Glossary of Terms

Below you’ll find a glossary of terms that will be useful to help understand the terms and phrases you’ll find while exploring the Laser Wire Solutions website or when interacting with our team. If there’s a term or phrase not listed here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team for assistance.

Additive manufacturing is the process of using computer-aided design (CAD) or 3D object scanner tools to create precise objects and machine parts that are used for various parts of the machine.

Chemical wire stripping is the process of exposing the insulated wire to chemical material to soften the insulator for removal until the section of fine wire is achieved.

Dielectric is the term used for the insulating layer of plastic or foam between the center conductor wire of a cable and its outer braid.

A femtosecond is a measurement of time which equates to one quadrillionth of a second. Laser Wire Solutions utilizes a femtosecond laser in a number of our wire stripping solutions. Get in touch to learn more.

A fiber laser is a type of laser which uses fiber doped with rare-earth elements as active laser medium.

A fixture plate is an part of your laser wire stripping machine which holds the wires or cables in a specific position ready for stripping. The fixture plate ensures there is no movement of the wires or cables and guarantees a consistent result each time.

A fume extractor is a piece of equipment included with most laser wire stripping machines supplied through Laser Wire Solutions. These are air extraction systems ensure the wire strippers comply with health and safety regulations by removing smoke, odors, particles and fumes from the laser stripping area and return clean air to the room.

A galvo scanner or galvanometer scanner is a mirror mounted onto an electromagnetic galvanometer. A current passed through the galvo coil causes a fixed deflection. The laser mirror can be tilted with high accuracy and high acceleration. This allows the laser spot to be deflected at very high speeds

Laser ablation, or laser wire stripping, is a non-mechanical means to remove the coating from a given wire compared to more traditional wire stripping methods.

All manufacturers of laser products have a responsibility to customers to provide details of the laser class. The classification is based on the output power(s) and wavelength(s) of the accessible laser radiation over the full range of capability during operation.

They are grouped according to their ability to do harm: the higher the number, the greater the harm. Current laser classes are 1, 1M, 2, 2M, 3R, 3B, and 4.

Laser wire stripping is the process of removing sections of insulation from delicate, high value wires and cables by using precision laser light to ablate the coating without making contact with the conductor.

Mechanical wire stripping is the process of using brushes, pads or knives to remove insulation from wires and cables to reveal the inner wire.

Micro soldering is the process of selectively soldering fine, high-value wires using a precise and controlled laser beam to form a bond to the circuit board or other area.

SME is the acronym used for a Scanning Electron Microscope which is a type of electron microscope that produces images of a sample by scanning the surface with a focused beam of electrons.

Wire gauge is a measurement of wire diameter. There is a British Standard Wire Gauge also known as the Imperial Wire Gauge or the American Wire Gauge (AWG) which is the measurement used by Laser Wire Solutions.