A new era in galvanometer scanner control Available to Purchase

Laser sources have made extraordinary strides in capability over the last decade, making ultra-short pulses, large selections of wavelengths, and high energy output widely available to an array of industries looking to implement them. As a result of these improvements, a constantly growing array of high- precision manufacturing processes are using lasers and demanding high throughput to achieve viability. This has put galvanometer scanners at the center of high- precision laser material processing, and has forced scanner manufacturers to address the new challenges facing scanners in modern applications. Conventional scanner control relied exclusively on a feedback architecture, with high mechanical bandwidths and high system damping ratios. This control paradigm is no longer adequate to meet the needs of applications such as flat panel display processing, microvia hole drilling in PCB manufacturing, or transparent conductive oxide (TCO) patterning. As a result, scanners have begun to adopt control features that have been common in the precision motion control industry. Features like command look ahead and path planning and advanced feedforward control techniques are beginning to permeate. The most advanced scanners in industrial use today have even begun to change the way laser sources are implemented and controlled. This paper explores some of the recent advances in galvanometer scanner technology, and how they have paved the way for scanners to become a predominant fixture in many precision manufacturing industries.