General > General Technical Chat
Laser-ing the IC markings off on a budget.
<< < (5/17) > >>
JohnnyMalaria:

--- Quote from: Arek_R on March 16, 2021, 01:19:12 pm ---Hi I'm looking to into making the product difficult to reverse engineer.
I believe it can be done using some generic hobby grade 5W laser engraver, right?
Has anyone tried doing this?
Does anyone know what's the required power of the laser module to quickly do it?
Thanks.

--- End quote ---

This guy did it with a "40W" laser at half power
JustMeHere:
Possible? Yeah, metal can be etched with a laser.

Practical,  well, you will need a 3 axis CNC machine to do it reliably. 

I would start out with 100 grit sandpaper.
Arek_R:
Another troll?
Since when are ICs made out of metal?
beanflying:

--- Quote from: Arek_R on March 23, 2021, 08:06:02 am ---Another troll?
Since when are ICs made out of metal?

--- End quote ---

Practical Test tomorrow on my 40W CO2 Laser. Gut feel it will need something like 20-30% of power at near full scan speed (300mm/sec) to get it done.

I also do have a 0.5W Diode Laser I can have a play with but it isn't mounted in anything. The thing to bear in mind if you are tempted to look at a Diode Laser option is they are nearly all  :bullshit: spec and over driven to hell. Also the scan speeds achievable by these will be painful if you need to run a decent number of IC's

I have some random SMD chips I have salvaged from boards as rework practice and some DIP stuff I will sacrifice to the cause of knowledge.
beanflying:
Ok so I got bored/intrigued and the Bottle of Single Malt Painkiller is in the shack  :-DD

Tried sitting some Loose SMD and IC's under the Laser but the Air Assist (Lens Cleaning) was not going to cooperate. Blu-Tack is an option but I decided to quickly lump some bits together for a little mass. Even during the test this moved a little.

Quick Fusion Mask to avoid needing to ablate the entire bit 40% at 300mm/sec and it could certainly be done at less power than this with a bit of experimenting. Also in a production setting you would drop the DPI in the vertical to save more time again but this gives a nice smooth result.

Very rough test but the junk end of the K40 rubbish would get it done or a nicer something for a few $ more like mine is a better option. Obviously better jigging and measuring than the 10 minute option too  ;)



Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod