Glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, brittle, inorganic, primarily silicate/oxidic material, the properties of which are affected by the type and quantity of oxide used. The marking processes for glass separate the wheat from the chaff. The main challenge when marking glass is that these materials are generally transparent to the wavelengths typically used in industrial lasers. It is therefore necessary to not only use the correct wavelength, but also develop an appropriate method and process. ACI Laser has addressed this challenge and developed multiple solutions for marking glass.
Typical materials
Soda-lime glass makes up approx. 90% of all glass produced. It is manufactured using quartz sand, sodium carbonate, potash, feldspar, lime, dolomite and where applicable old glass or factory cullet. Special glass types also use minium, borax, barium carbonate and rare earth in their manufacture.
Plastics such as plexiglass are included in the category of glass types due to their thermodynamic properties, even though their chemical composition is completely different to silicate glass.