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Laser engraving, a photonics technology, is one of the most promising technologies required many applications in industry, such as the creation of molds and dies, engraving information i.e. names and serial numbers in the silicon chips, direct engraving of the expiry date on a food package, engraving of an image beneath the surface of a solid material (usual glass), direct engraving of flexographic plates and cylinders [1]. In this method, using a laser beam a solid bulk of the material to be engraved is ablated, following predetermined patterns. This paper is proposed to design and fabricate a 3D printerbased laser engraver for low-cost material processing and electronics applications. The principle of 3D printing and laser engraving has been the subject of a number of articles The 3D printing technology is based on the fused deposition modeling technique (FDM) which is an additive manufacturing process while laser engraving (a subset of laser marking) is based on the subtractive manufacturing process. Both these processes are controlled digitally though they utilize different approaches to build their parts. In 3D printing technology, it extrudes plastic filaments from a nozzle and deposits melted plastic on a plane layer by layer. While in laser engraving technology we use a high-power laser that only moves in 2D motion from point to point to engrave on a plane. In this work, the design and characterization of a 3D printer-based diode laser engraver have been undertaken. The study has aimed at analyzing the effects of laser engraving speed and laser power and how these parameters are linked. The laser power was controlled employing pulse width modulation (PWM).
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