Not Best-to-Worst — Tuned to Materials
The three sources aren’t ranked; they’re tuned to different materials. Choosing well starts and ends with what you’re marking.
Fiber (1064 nm)
The default for metals and many hard plastics. Air-cooled, consumable-free and fast — which is why most metal-marking lines run fiber.
CO2 (10.6 µm)
The organics specialist: wood, acrylic, glass, leather, paper and coated surfaces. It marks materials a fiber beam passes straight through.
UV (355 nm)
The cold-marking option. With almost no heat, it suits sensitive plastics, glass, silicon and medical or cosmetic packaging where a fiber or CO2 burn would damage the part.
Picking One — or Two
Match the source to your dominant material, then check your edge cases. Plenty of shops run fiber for metal and add UV or CO2 for a specific product line.
| Source | Wavelength | Best on | Heat | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber | 1064 nm | metals, hard plastics | low | IDs, codes, logos on metal |
| MOPA | 1064 nm tunable | stainless color, anodized black | very low | color / fine marking |
| CO2 | 10.6 µm | wood, acrylic, glass, leather | medium | non-metal marking |
| UV | 355 nm | sensitive plastics, glass | minimal | medical, cosmetics, electronics |
Reviewed by Wang Jiachao, Senior Laser Equipment Engineer, Topstar.
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Explore: Laser Marking Guide. Related: Fiber Marking · CO2 Marking · UV Marking.