RAZOR SHARP AND INDELIBLE LASER MARKING ON VIRTUALLY ANY PLASTIC WITH DSM’S MICABS® TECHNOLOGY

At this year’s K Show, DSM will demonstrate Micabs®, a revolutionary additive technology for laser marking on plastics. Invented by DSM researchers, Micabs® is an environmentally friendly, universal solution allowing razor-sharp and indelible laser writing on virtually any plastic. It provides the answer to problems with contrast, resolution and speed when marking darker images and/or text on light-coloured plastic materials.

The image that can be produced with the Micabs® technology is very sharp and the grey tints are so clearly defined that, to take one example, a passport photo measuring four square millimeters will retain sufficient clarity even when enlarged to as much as 1200 square millimeters. The technology ensures a reproducible, consistent quality and can be applied with various processing techniques such as blow-moulding, injection-moulding, casting and foaming.

Unlike the current method of using a laser beam to carbonize the plastic itself, Micabs® relies on the ingenious formulation of well-defined laser active particles to the polymer matrix. The colour change with laser exposure takes place within the particle, so that consistent marking is obtained irrespective of the polymer. “It even works in difficult to mark polymers such as silicons and polyolefins,” Valerie Reid, business manager of Micabs®, says.

Applications include numerous electronic applications, ID cards, animal tags, synthetic corks, , cosmetic packaging, tubing, closures and medical equipment. DSM will demonstrate Micabs® at K’2004, in hall 6, stand B 11.