Laser Marking Service in Silicon Valley

WaferFab develops creative and cost effective solutions to laser marking or engraving problems. Using fiber laser technology we can quickly and permanently mark or engrave serial numbers, part numbers, bar codes, and company logos on a wide range of materials including raw metal parts and industrial polymers.

We specialize in marking parts for the semiconductor industry. Our specialty is processing custom projects under very tight deadlines with most of the jobs related to laser marking silicon wafers.  However, along with wafer marking we can also process individual die pieces. As you can see from the images at the bottom of the page we can certainly mark many different types of materials and objects.

Laser marking is a low cost method of adding images to the surface of parts. It is different from printing in that no ink is used. It uses a very narrow laser beam to leave a permanent mark on the surface of the material without leaving tactile evidence. The fact that it is done without physically making contact with the part being marked means that the risk of mechanically damaging fragile (or ESD sensitive) parts is reduced. Because many of the parts we process are susceptible to ESD damage our ESD protocols are strictly followed on the production floor. The form factor of the part is also easier to handle when using a laser instead of a printing process. It does not require a flat surface to achieve high contrast sharp edged images which makes it much better at handling parts of all shapes and sizes.

Many of the parts we handle are also susceptible to damage caused by heat. The laser process can generate a significant amount of heat. However, with proper programming of the laser the chance of heat damage can be reduced significantly.

Not everyone is interested in adding identification to their parts. In some cases the requirement is to remove any identifying information so that bad actors will not be able to reverse engineer your product. Our laser services can also help in this case. Our laser process can be used to remove identifying information. For instance, it can remove part numbers from IC's. This approach is used to protect intellectual property from falling into the wrong hands.

There are three types of lasers that are typically used in laser marking. 1- UV lasers. 2- Green lasers. 3- YAG lasers. We have opted to go with YAG lasers since it is the most versatile, the most cost effective and the most common. We did not want to get into the trap of having a hodge podge of different types of machines on the production floor with all of the resulting support issues.

WaferFab Offers:

We can process prototype to low volume production levels

We can provide process Development support for new product development

We do not provide volume production but we can help with the transition to high volume by providing detailed documentation to your high volume vendor of choice.

WaferFab Can:

Permanently etch, engrave and mark smooth or uneven surfaces

Permanently mark aluminum, silicon, titanium, steel, gold, copper, etc.

We can use many types of fonts in various sizes.

File types supported for images are PLT, BMP, DXF, JPG, TIF, AI, PNG, JPG, etc.

The images below show examples of our process capabilities.