The Galvanometric System The beam is guided via two mirrors turned galvanometrically. The mirror axes are arranged perpendicular to each other so that one mirror can deflect the beam in the direction of the X axis and the other one in the direction of the Y axis. After the beam has been deflected by the mirrors, it is focused onto the work piece, which lies under the deflection equipment, through a focusing lens. The two mirrors and the focusing lens is held in a fixed structure called a galvo head. This system can address areas up to 300 x 300 mm.
The Plotter (standard flat) System The Laser beam is guided via three mirrors along the axes of a mechanical 2D (X,Y axes) positioning mechanism driven by motors, like pen-plotters. This system can address areas up to 1500 x 1500 mm.