FEATURE BEAM ANALYSIS
Keeping up with laser beam measurement
David Stuart speaks with two developers of laser beam profilers about recent developments and their implications for the industry
B
eam analysis has become increasingly sophisticated and is now a necessity for certain laser applications as faster and more
powerful lasers require real-time feedback. The technique is used to capture data
about the profile of a laser beam, ensuring that a laser is behaving in the way that it is expected to behave. There have been significant
improvements in beam analysis in recent years and, as Nicholas Prefontaine, Product Manager at Gentec Electro-Optics, explains, this has enabled a new way of thinking: “The old-school style of beam analysis was just basically a watt meter, and the new style is knowing everything about the laser parameters including focal-point size, focal- point quality, and propagation properties.” This has not always translated into the
acceptance and the adaptation of new laser measurement technology. Industry can often move slowly and fail to recognise the opportunities the technology can present, as John McCauley, Senior Business Development Manager at Ophir, points out: “It’s amazing to hear of a customer who has bought this million-dollar machine, and made that investment, but still wants to use 1970s and 1980s technology to measure the performance of the laser, I’m like ‘the technology is there, use the technology to get a better snapshot of how your laser is performing’.” One area where beam analysis is having a big impact, however, is in additive manufacturing.
24 Electro Optics November 2022 @electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
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