Laser marking was being considered as a replacement for part identification for ICs by ink marking. Lasers offered an advantage with computer controlled means of managing the product data and the potential to improve yield and eliminate costly consumables.

A laser stores energy internally until it is needed, but with a fundamental problem of excessive energy released in the first pulse of the output. Most IC packages at the time used a thermoset epoxy which can easily be damaged by the energy of a typical laser pulse. A solution was required before lasers could even be considered.

A novel approach was implemented by a key laser supplier to modify the RF amplifier used to control the laser output and dissipate the energy of the first pulse. The innovation was easily integrated into existing system software and BOM without any additional requirements for optics or hardware components. Or cost.

The innovation allowed an unproven company to establish a beachhead in what proved to be a very lucrative market in terms of sales volume, profit margin and impressive growth. The benefit to the customer was the ability to automate the manufacturing process and data under computer control to improve throughput and lower cost of manufacturing.