Three ways TI DLP® technology is revolutionizing industrial printing and production

To meet the growing demands of industrial imaging and printing, manufacturing solutions must be able to produce complex, high-resolution 2D images with consistent quality at extremely fast speeds. DLP technology has been used for high-throughput 3D printing and printed circuit board (PCB) lithography using UV light sources. Now, expanded support for near-infrared (NIR) light sources brings the same advantages of fast printing speeds, fine resolution, and real-time adaptability, expanding industrial printing applications.

Here are three ways TI’s newest digital micromirror device (DMD), the DLP650LNIR, addresses challenges in industrial imaging systems.

1.DLP650LNIR supports high-power NIR lasers.

Today, NIR lasers are used in a variety of industrial imaging applications, including selective laser sintering for 3D printing, laser marking, digital printing, and laser ablation. These NIR laser-based imaging systems provide enough thermal energy to melt, ablate, or activate materials such as plastic or metal powders, inks, and thermally sensitive coatings and substrates to produce 2D patterns on surfaces. To accommodate a wider range of printing materials, the DLP650LNIR DMD is optimized to support near-infrared wavelengths from 950 to 1150 nm and offers the highest optical power handling capabilities TI has released to date (up to 500 W/cm2) 

Figure 1: NIR system setup using the DLP650LNIR DMD

2.DLP650LNIR can provide 2D printing exposure.

An example of an industrial imaging system is post-product marking for the medical or food industries, where regulations require more information to be printed on each package to track its path through the supply chain. Digital marking solutions add a unique pattern or image to each object late in the manufacturing process.

These systems require real-time customization and more complex information and graphics without compromising production targets. In existing laser marking systems, the laser beam can be manipulated point by point to produce customized images on thermal labels or coatings. But now laser marking systems can use DLP technology to thermally expose a 2D area at one time, rather than point by point, so the marking rate remains constant even when generating complex large codes or patterns. With more than 1 million micromirrors, the DLP650LNIR can expose a large area to the laser at the same time, thereby printing finer details and more consistent results than existing technologies.

3.DLP650LNIR provides high programming flexibility.

Another example of an imaging system is the use of NIR lasers to sinter powdered materials layer by layer through a 3D printer. As 3D printing matures from rapid prototyping to true digital manufacturing, the need for tight control of the printing process, especially thermal variations in the print chamber, becomes increasingly important. The fast switching times (microseconds) of the micromirrors on the DMD increase and vary the intensity of the laser delivered to the print surface. When used in conjunction with the DLP650LNIR’s digital controller, you can program and provide custom grayscale patterns in real time to modulate the thermal energy of each pixel, enabling real-time correction of each printed layer. This speed and flexibility provides reliable and precise sintering of finished products with fine feature sizes and robust internal mechanical structures.

The DLP650LNIR provides the high speed and print consistency required for industrial-grade manufacturing and near-infrared (NIR) laser imaging. The DLP650LNIR expands the range of industrial printing applications that can use DLP technology, including selective laser sintering 3D printing, dynamic laser marking for thermal coatings, and ink-based digital color printing, as well as new technologies that emerge as material scientists introduce new materials in these markets.