How Laser Wire Stripping Works in Practice

This section provides a brief overview of how our laser wire strippers work, plus some examples of specific applications and the sort of results that you can achieve with our products.

In our mainstream SIENNA wire strippers the laser beam is focused down to a very small spot size and is passed over the wire at a pre-set speed. The laser then vaporises the selected areas of insulation, removing it in a narrow line.

As noted above, the laser does not damage the wire conductor because the metallic materials are highly reflective to the CO2 laser beam, whereas the insulating materials are generally highly absorbing. As the beam passes over the wire it cuts precisely through the insulation, rather like an invisible hot knife through butter, creating a neat cut down to the conductor and leaving the insulation to be easily removed. Through a combination of moving the work piece and the beam, a variety of strip geometries are possible from our different products, depending upon the requirements of the application, such as cross-cuts and slits windows, etc. (see discussion and examples above).

SIENNA laser wire strippers may be used either as stand-alone equipment or as part of an automated system. Where the equipment is to be used as a stand-alone facility the wire may be processed as a batch, hand loaded by the operator, either singly or set up in groups on a tooling plate. Setting up on a tooling plate speeds up the stripping process and increases productivity in situations where batches of the same wire type require processing; once set up, the plate is loaded into the wire stripper which makes one or more passes across the wires, stripping them in parallel.

Alternatively, our wire strippers can be automated by the provision of a SIENNA AWH automated wire handling system as part of an integrated set up in which wire is fed automatically through the stripper from a reel. In this way jobs can be automatically processed as batches via the SIENNA system controller.

For higher levels of automation, our products are also available to systems integrators who may need to integrate them into more complex automation systems.

To facilitate the use of the SIENNA wire strippers, Spectrum Technologies provides a range of ancillary equipment, including control systems, chillers and air purification units to provide a complete turn key solution to each customers requirements.

When the laser beam interacts with organic materials, it typically produces process fumes and particles, which must be removed from the vicinity of the equipment. To do this we can provide the ACS-4 for air extraction and purification for use with all SIENNA equipment. Alternatively, if the customer has suitable venting and filtration systems available, the exhaust outlet on SIENNA wire strippers can be hooked up directly to this.

For some applications we need to use other laser types, either to deal with more difficult insulation types or to work at smaller dimensions. For instance we have delivered a number of excimer laser based UV laser wire strippers over time for processing fine gauge wires.

UV laser light from a 248 nm Krypton Fluoride excimer laser easily ablates the insulation from this fine gauge 50 µm diameter wire (photo courtesy of Lambda Physik).


If you have a need that cannot be met with one of our mainstream SIENNA products, we will be happy to discuss your application with you. We can undertake process evaluation and development in our application laboratories and if appropriate we can tailor a system accordingly (see below).

Future Developments and Applications

New technological developments and increased innovation are continuing in all market sectors. Advances in new product development are changing the way devices or components function, look and communicate. With these new advances, the wiring of these devices continues to change: circuitry is getting smaller and faster while wire manufacturers are developing new insulating materials, smaller diameter wires with new cable and wire configurations that are able to surpass previous performance. As materials and component designs advance and get smaller, they require improved manufacturing processes to ensure higher product quality levels are maintained while production costs are lowered.

As products become lighter weight, more reliable, more efficient and more cost effective, conventional methods for stripping wire are becoming increasingly outdated and unacceptable. Whether it is damage to the wire, the need for constant monitoring of blades to ensure quality standards or the high cost for replacement parts, designers and manufacturers are discovering that they need to find alternatives to these methods.

Spectrum Technologies is focused on providing laser based technology solutions for the removal of insulating materials, whether for metallic wires or for fibre optics as well as for other applications in advanced manufacturing. As we continue our research into the development and application of new laser process technology, please feel free to contact us if you have a problem that you would like to discuss with us that cannot be met with one of our standard products.