Patent ID: 7834899

Claim:
A laser marking system configured to mark paper, the system comprising: a laser light emitting source; means for displacing said paper relative to said laser light emitting source, wherein the displacing means is configured to expose a surface of the paper to light from the laser light emitting source, and the exposed surface is sufficiently sensitive to light from the laser light emitting source that, when exposed, energy is absorbed at least one point of said paper; whereby a reaction occurs which changes the color of the exposed surface and said paper is the printed product of said laser marking system; and means for transmitting light from said laser light emitting source to the exposed surface, wherein said laser light emitting source comprises an array of individually addressable lasers arranged for simultaneous marking of a plurality of distinct points of said exposed surface, and said array of lasers comprise semi-conductor laser diodes configured to emit light in at least one of the infra red and near infra red spectrums, said paper being sensitive to light of at least one of the infra red and near infra red spectrums, whereby said paper is colored primarily by thermal reactions caused by exposure of the plurality of distinct points to the emitted light; and means for modulating at least one of a duration and an amplitude of the emitted light in order to affect the extent of color change.