Archive for July, 2011

One of the laser’s most useful properties is that while a laser beam propagates it defines a straight line. Many optical systems designed to exploit this property include: range finders, optical scanners, laser printers, laser marking machines and many more. For these systems it is extremely important that the laser beam is directed toward its designed location. Beam profilers have the capacity to indicate where the beam is located on the detector of the beam profiler, and different types of profilers can indicate position with varying degrees of accuracy. Therefore, beam profilers are often used while operating laser systems to ensure they are functioning properly. Beam profilers are also used to streamline the manufacturing process of a laser system, efficiently ensuring the laser spot is on the right location.

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Take a minute to understand how useful Ophir’s new Beam Track sensor really is. The Beam Track sensor indicates beam size and location as well as beam power and energy, and it’s in the same price range as ordinary power and energy sensors.  Ephraim Greenfield, CTO at Ophir photonics, writes about the convenience of using the Beam Track sensor:

At Ophir’s development laboratory we have been developing a new fast thermal sensor. This sensor is sensitive to power density and to measure the dependence on power density, we have to measure the beam waist of the Gaussian beam at various beam sizes and various powers.

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So you acquired a brand new laser power sensor, is there anything else you should know to ensure high accuracy of your laser measurements?

There are a few factors you should keep in mind in general and depending on the type of sensor.

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