Blue laser technology becomes the key to breakthrough! The challenge of highly reflective materials in 3D printing has been overcome, accelerating the arrival of the consumer market.
3D printing lasers—core components of additive manufacturing—have been widely applied to various materials (e.g., metal powder, nylon powder, ceramic powder). They serve key industrial sectors including medical, aerospace, automotive, and jewelry design. As semiconductor laser technology iterates continuously, it gradually meets the personalized 3D printing needs of individual studios. Breakthroughs in printing highly reflective materials have emerged as a key opportunity to drive the industry toward the consumer market.
Infrared Lasers Encounter Bottlenecks: Printing Highly Reflective Materials Presents Challenges
Among the many materials used in 3D printing, metal powders are highly favored in industrial applications due to their excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. However, processing them using mainstream infrared lasers presents numerous difficulties. Industry data shows that metal powders have a reflectivity of up to 90% for 1064nm infrared lasers. This makes it difficult for the material to absorb enough energy to complete sintering and shaping, necessitating the use of infrared lasers with power exceeding kilowatts to ensure printing quality.
High power not only leads to high energy consumption but also results in bulky equipment and high costs, severely limiting the widespread adoption of infrared laser 3D printing in the consumer market. Overcoming the bottleneck in printing highly reflective materials has become a core demand for technological upgrades in the industry.
Blue Laser Breakthrough: Low Power, High Absorption Opens a New Track
To overcome infrared lasers’ limitations, the industry has shifted research focus to short-wavelength lasers—boasting higher metal absorption rates. Among these, 450nm blue lasers stand out. Research confirms metal powders absorb over 40% of 450nm blue light. Notably, highly reflective metals like pure copper reach up to 65%—13 times higher than that of infrared lasers. This characteristic makes low-power 3D printing possible.
Laboratory test data confirms blue lasers’ advantages: Specifically, when using a 40W blue laser to sinter stainless steel powder for 3D printing, we can control the laser spot within 0.5mm. Additionally, we convert continuous laser light into pulsed output via a PWM signal; after directional adjustment by a galvanometer, we stack layers to precisely form 3D objects. Compared to traditional infrared lasers, blue lasers are only one-fifth the size, making them easier to integrate into small sintering 3D printers, making them an ideal choice for consumer-grade sintering 3D printing.
BU-LASER offers professional OEM/ODM services for lasers spanning 375nm–980nm. We provide 425nm–460nm blue diode lasers (1W–80W) — ideal for SLS 3D printing applications. For more details, contact Song Song at song@bu-laser.com.
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