Mark a laser track on a paper

Hello,

I'm a student for electrical engineering, doing a final project with laser.
The purpose of the project is to cut Styrofoam sheet with laser.
I'll probably won't be able to cut anything with my low-cost laser, so my alternative is to mark the laser track on a piece of paper.

Is there any special light-sensitive paper that I can use in order to mark the laser path on it assuming that I'm using a very low-cost and low-power laser (let's say a simple laser pointer)?

Thanks,
Nadav

There is no laser sensitive paper if that's what you're asking. There is light sensitive paper. It was used for making photos for hundred of years. But you would have to block other sources of light, and you would have to develop the paper afterwards.
It almost seems easier, and more fun, to build stronger laser, which would actually leave mark. White paper will always be troublesome target, but black plastic, like CD case, can be marked with 200mW red laser, which is rather cheap ($30). Or you can build about 2W 445nm blue laser for about $100, which would even cut thin foil. Or you could use about 700mW 405nm blueray laser, which is about the same price as the 445nm one. It is a bit weaker, but it has better beam, and due to its color it can burn more materials.
All these would need some safety precautions, like not letting the beam out of the machine, and using safety goggles during works where it is not possible. But that could make the project even more interesting.
Real burning would require the laser to be in constant distance from the material, as the beam would have to be focused for some fixed distance. For just painting with light you could use collimated beam (ie more or less same diameter of the beam over distance), where the distance won't matter that much.

Will this laser be able to cut / leave marks on a sheet of Styrofoam or a thin card board?
One extra high burning power (1000-1500mW) infrared TO-5 9mm laser diode + Gift | eBay

Thanks

You can buy glow in the dark paper or material and use a cheap 405 nm laser to illuminate it and track the laser. I hear this website is good Shop — Catalog Products — Glow Fabric Remnant. Here's a link to a purple laser New Blue/Violet Laser Pointer Pen 5mW Light Beam 405nm Fast Ship From USA | eBay.

NadavCo said:

Will this laser be able to cut / leave marks on a sheet of Styrofoam or a thin card board?
One extra high burning power (1000-1500mW) infrared TO-5 9mm laser diode + Gift | eBay

Thanks

Click to expand...

Power would be sufficient. I'm not sure how is the beam quality of this diode. Some cheap IR diodes have very bad beams, making it unsuitable for burning. Also IR is much more dangerous, as it is almost invisible. Not good idea for first laser.

Can you get your hands on a roll of thermal fax paper? Even a moderate bluray would activate the paper, drawing a line. I just found some of this paper and tried it. My bluray writes a line on the fax paper. This may help you. For cutting styrofoam reliably, think CO2 laser. My 2W 808nm will not cut white foam, the IR will not absorb into the white foam. I can cut black or pink foam no problem.

Thermal fax paper you say... I'll try to get one.
If you say you could leave marks on it that exactly what I need.

Thanks for the advice of using black foam instead of a white Styrofoam.

I was going to suggest thermal fax paper. They also used to use it in POS receipt printers. Spark fun has it here.

I haven't tried but you could probably melt Styrofoam with a laser without much trouble if it was dark coloured.

You can probably get that receipt paper at staples. It would probably be easier and cheaper too