Focusing a Gaussian Laser Beam: Which Formula to Use?
Learn when to use thin lens vs Gaussian formulas for accurate laser beam focusing, spot size, and Rayleigh length optimization.
Focusing a Gaussian Laser Beam: Which Formula to Use? Read Post »
Category: Laser Beam Analysis
How Stray Light Affects Laser Beam Profiling
CCD camera beam profilers are very sensitive to light.
So what happens when we consider ambient light? How about other light sources in the area, such as laser pumps?
There are two issues that can be caused by unwanted light getting into the camera:
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Must You Measure Industrial Laser Performance?
With all the advancements in laser technology, lasers have become higher quality and more consistent.
Laser manufacturers test and measure their lasers during development, to make sure you, the laser end user, get the highest quality laser system.
With all this in mind then, do you really have to measure your laser system?
Must You Measure Industrial Laser Performance? Read Post »
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Laser Beam Profiling System
What are the four things you need to know when selecting a laser beam profiling system? Learn from Ophir-Spiricon’s sales engineers – the experts in the field of measuring lasers – what you need to know to get the most out of your laser beam.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Laser Beam Profiling System Read Post »
Q&A: M-Squared Laser Beam Quality
What’s M-Squared, again?
If you’re not familiar with M2 already, it basically sums up your laser beam quality in a single number.
M2 takes a look at your beam caustic (the curve of the laser beam as it focuses and diverges again) and compares this to an ideal Gaussian beam caustic.
So if your beam is perfectly Gaussian, you’ll get M2 = 1. For high quality beams, M2 might be 1.1 or 1.2, for lower qualities you can get up to 3, 4 and even double digits for some low quality high power lasers.
So, how do you know what the M2 of your laser beam really is?
Q&A: M-Squared Laser Beam Quality Read Post »
Laser Measurement Solutions for High Power Industrial Laser Applications
Modern production facilities must constantly increase throughput, at less cost, with less scrap, and with minimum downtime. In this video overview, you will learn how application of new, advanced technology in measurement devices, can help both designers and users of industrial laser systems to optimize and control their processes, so they can accomplish these goals and achieve consistently good results – both in quality and quantity.
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Focus shift monitoring of high power lasers
Measuring the focal spot of a high power laser is challenging, at best.
The main issue is that when a high power laser is focused down to a small point, the power density can be extremely high, typically high enough to damage any sort of measurement equipment you would use.
The solution?
Focus shift monitoring of high power lasers Read Post »
How to Keep Your Industrial Laser Process Running Smoothly
Lasers are made of matter – of stuff.
And anything made of matter will degrade with time.
So if the laser degradation and eventual failure is inevitable, what can be done?
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How to Design Your Perfect Laser Beam with BeamMaker
BeamMaker helps engineers, technicians, and researchers understand a beam’s modal content by creating a theoretically generated beam. Design your perfect beam profile in BeamMaker by specifying the mode, size, width, height, intensity, angle, and noise content – then configure your laser to run as designed, and compare your actual beam to the theoretically derived measurements. The end result is knowledge about how much the real beam varies from the desired beam.
How to Design Your Perfect Laser Beam with BeamMaker Read Post »
What to Do when Your Laser Doesn’t Perform to Spec
You’re so upset you could spit.
You just got a new laser for your factory floor, but it just won’t make parts that pass inspection.
What to Do when Your Laser Doesn’t Perform to Spec Read Post »
The Difficulties in M-Squared Measurement –And How to Overcome Them
A clear benefit of knowing the M2 of your laser is getting a lot of information about beam quality all in one number.
As simple as the output is, it is harder than you may imagine to measure and calculate M-Squared.
Let’s take a quick look at the theory behind M2 to see how it can be measured.
The Difficulties in M-Squared Measurement –And How to Overcome Them Read Post »
Improve Your Laser Marking Process
Lasers are amazing. They can cut or weld, drill or solder. A very general application of laser materials processing is
Improve Your Laser Marking Process Read Post »