Laser ablation is indeed a versatile and precise technique for material removal from solid surfaces using laser energy. Laser ablation is highly precise, allowing for micron-level control over material removal. This precision is particularly advantageous in industries where selective material removal is crucial. The Minimal Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) is also a significat feature: laser ablation is a relatively low-heat process that minimizes the heat-affected zone, reducing the risk of thermal damage to the surrounding material. Materials like metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites can be laser ablated. This versatility makes it suitable for a broad spectrum of applications across different industries. In addition to material removal, laser ablation is widely used for surface cleaning. It can efficiently remove contaminants, oxides, or unwanted layers from surfaces, ensuring a clean substrate for subsequent processes.

CO₂ lasers are tools that offer outstanding power and flexibility in laser material cutting applications. Laser cutting is a thermal process in which a laser, assisted by a gas, heats up the material, resulting in the alteration of its state. Laser material cutting advantages include great versatility regarding cutting speed, geometry, precision and accuracy of the cut. Plus, no further processing is required: The part you'll get will be perfectly finished. The typical 10.6 micrometers wavelength of CO₂ laser sources is readily absorbed by a wide range of materials. Metals, ceramic, wood, paper, glass, fabric, composites: a high-power CO₂ laser source will slice them like a knife. Owing to their beam quality and energetic efficiency, El.En's RF CO₂ laser sources are perfect for all those industries where achieving precision cutting is a strategic asset: Automotive, packaging, machine tool, lcd processing and others.

Imagine the possibility of making thousands of holes of any caliber in a short time. And without producing any chips and at exactly defined locations. That's exactly what a CO₂ laser source can do. Laser drilling is one of the most diffused laser applications, along with its sibling laser microperforation. Basically, the laser beam striking the surface of a plastic, metal or ceramic material, makes the base material evaporate. The holes resulting from this operation will have neat edges and won't need further processing operations. Furthermore, for drilling applications you can use the same laser sources you would use for cutting operations! El.En.'s laser sources have been engineered to work on metals, ceramic and plastic materials in machine tool, packaging, food, printing and decoration industries.

Laser kiss cutting is a special cutting technique. It is very useful in the paper converting and label production industries: Laser kiss cutting aims at cutting only the top layer of a two-layered sheet instead of cutting through a sheet of paper, as in traditional laser cutting. The production of sticky labels is one of the main fields of application of this processing technique. The advantages of laser kiss cutting are remarkable: Since it is a non-contact process, there won't be any die or blade getting glued to the adhesive layer, avoiding the costs of tool cleaning. Futhermore, laser kiss cutting applications do not require special equipment: A single CO₂ laser source can achieve both laser kiss cut and laser cut through processing. Laser kiss cut is great to be employed in the paper and label industries, where it can be easily integrated into the printing process, but is also perfect for the coating and film industries.

High powered CO₂ lasers sources have become the standard tool for marking and engraving applications. Laser marking is a thermal process, which works through the ablation of a thin layer of the base material produced by a pulsed laser beam. All this results in a series of shallow pits on the surface that make the mark visible. When the marks made by laser are deeper we refer to laser engraving. Typically, lasers are used to mark bar codes, part codes and identification numbers, company logos and various graphics. Depending on the laser parameters, almost all types of materials can be successfully marked. Compared to traditional techniques laser marking offers high reliability, high speed, real time operability and low operating costs. El.En.'s sealed RF excited CO₂ laser sources have been engineered to achieve top grade results in marking applications: High laser beam quality, wide power ranges, high repetition rate and versatility. Hence, they are the perfect choice for applications in the packaging and electronic industries.

Laser microperforation or laser microdrilling is the process of laser drilling micro holes on materials such as plastic films, paper and fabric. It is a subset of laser drilling processing techniques. Compared to mechanical micro perforation, laser offers speed, flexibility, resolution and accuracy. El.En.'s CO₂ laser sources operated in pulsed mode will pulse at a maximum frequency of 100 Khz to get perfectly round holes, with no debris or signs of recast. Owing to those characteristics, El.En.'s CO₂ laser sources are widely used in the food packaging industry, to create containers that will guarantee the quality of the food they store. Other applications are in the automotive industry to drill micro holes in tissues and in the fashion industry to make decorations based on micro-perforation.

Like traditional welding processes, laser welding aims to join two parts together. However, a CO₂ laser will do it better, faster and with greater accuracy. CO₂ lasers are succesfully used as a heat source for welding operations. The laser beam heats the edges of two parts to be processed: The heat melts the material, causing the two parts to fuse where they are contiguous. Its main field of applications is laser welding of plastic polymers. This processing technique can be used, for instance, to hermetically seal plastic bags, or to join together parts that are difficult to join with traditional welding tehcniques due to their layout. This makes laser welding excellent in all those applications where extreme precision is required even at micro-scales. But how is it performed? El.En.'s RF CO₂ laser sources coupled with an AZSCAN (for CO₂ laser) laser scan head, have all the key features to do the job. Beam quality and size, power range and components have been engineered to allow you to achieve great polymer welding results in the automotive, lcd and packaging industries.