In general, the dynamic range over a given range, i.e. the ratio of maximum useable power to minimum useable power of Ophir thermal OEM sensors is 40:1. If greater dynamic range is desired, Ophir OEM RS232 sensors are available with several selectable ranges.

Yes, we have the ability to rapid prototype standard OEM sensors to help with custom applications where an off the shelf sensor does not fill the requirement.

Unless otherwise indicated, Ophir sensors and meters should be recalibrated within 18 months after initial purchase, and then once a year after that.

The damage threshold of thermal sensors does depend on the power level and not only the power density because the sensor disc itself gets hotter at high powers. For instance, the damage threshold of the Ophir broadband coating may be 50KW/cm2 at 10 Watts but only 10KW/cm2 at 300W. The Ophir specifications for damage threshold are always given for the highest power of use of a particular sensor, something which is not done by most other manufacturers. This should be taken into account when comparing specifications. The Sensor Finder takes the power level into consideration when calculating damage threshold.

The Ophir specification on accuracy is in general 2 sigma standard deviation. This means, for instance, that if we list the accuracy as +/-3%, this means that 95% of the sensors will be within this accuracy and 99% will be within +/-4%. For further information on accuracy see calibration procedure tutorial.

The new “LP2” type sensors are specially designed for beams having high power and high power density (and for pulsed beams, high energy density). The LP2 sensors are replacing the equivalent LP1 sensors. As impressive as the LP1 is, the LP2 was developed with the following improvements:

• Very high damage threshold, for both power density and energy density, for long pulse and CW beams.
• Spectrally flat. Since its absorption remains constant at widely differing wavelengths, this means that sensors based on the LP2 can be used for "white light" or polychromatic beams.
• Very high level of absorption (as high as 96%, depending on wavelength), meaning much less light is scattered back, which for high power beams is an important benefit.
• The absorption is also largely independent of incident angle, which means it can be used for divergent beams too.

The new LP2 coating has a number of advantages vs the previous LP1 coating: