Our current recommendation is to use DI water that has been titrated to a neutral pH (using a bit of sodium hydroxide for example – see FAQ at https://www.ophiropt.com/laser--measurement/knowledge-center/faq/7805 The commercial additive Optishield Plus is also recommended for systems such as ours that have copper and aluminum in them. It has the additional benefit of including a biocide to prevent the buildup of bacteria and algae...
Articles
The center of the NanoScan can be found by the following steps:
- Connect the NanoScan to the computer and open the software.
- Start recording data
- Go to the Computations tab and select the Rolling mode
- Go to the Profiles tab
- Under the Origin Location section of the Profiles tab
- Click on the Default button
- Click...
Calibration Method and Estimated Accuracy for Ophir High Power Sensors
Ophir models 5000W, 10K-W and Comet 10K are calibrated using relatively low power lasers ~ 150 - 300W. Using such low power lasers to calibrate the instrument vs. the high power at which the sensors are used raises the question of calibration accuracy. The following explanation clearly demonstrates that the 5000W, 10K-W and Comet 10K are indeed accurate to ±5% over their measurement range. The 5000W and 10K-W sensors work on the thermopile principle, where the radial heat flow in the absorber disk causes a temperature difference between the hot and cold junctions of the thermopile which in turn causes a voltage difference across the thermopile. Since the instrument is a thermopile voltage generating device, it must be linear at low values of output. Therefore, if it is shown to be linear at powers which are a significant fraction of the maximum power, it will necessarily be linear at very low powers and if the calibration is correct at low powers, it will remain correct at high powers as well. On the other hand, although the output may be linear at low powers, there may be a zero offset that, due to the relatively low output at low powers, will cause an error in calibration...
Ophir models 5000W, 10K-W and Comet 10K are calibrated using relatively low power lasers ~ 150 - 300W. Using such low power lasers to calibrate the instrument vs. the high power at which the sensors are used raises the question of calibration accuracy. The following explanation clearly demonstrates that the 5000W, 10K-W and Comet 10K are indeed accurate to ±5% over their measurement range. The 5000W and 10K-W sensors work on the thermopile principle, where the radial heat flow in the absorber disk causes a temperature difference between the hot and cold junctions of the thermopile which in turn causes a voltage difference across the thermopile. Since the instrument is a thermopile voltage generating device, it must be linear at low values of output. Therefore, if it is shown to be linear at powers which are a significant fraction of the maximum power, it will necessarily be linear at very low powers and if the calibration is correct at low powers, it will remain correct at high powers as well. On the other hand, although the output may be linear at low powers, there may be a zero offset that, due to the relatively low output at low powers, will cause an error in calibration...
An integral part of the Ophir-Spiricon culture is an engendering of the practice of continuous improvement. We do this with one focus in mind: Customer Satisfaction. The question driving all of these improvements is, “What can we do to provide better service to our customers?” One element of this is captured in the development of a system to recognize the improvements made in the Calibration Department.
These improvements come from every person in the department, and are documented...
Watch the Fastest Calibration in the Industry
At Ophir-Spiricon, we realize that our customers are the lifeblood of our company. Because of this partnership, we are driven to provide quality products and services in the most cost-...
At Ophir-Spiricon we pride ourselves on providing quality in every step of our service to you. To validate and measure our commitment to quality, Ophir-Spiricon has recently renewed our ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation by ACLASS. We validated that we are still in compliance for our calibration systems. ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is an accreditation that provides the general standards for testing and calibration labs worldwide. It helps us strive to complete consistent, valid results in our testing.
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By Kristen Winterton, Calibration Technician
The calibration laboratory at Ophir-Spiricon recently expanded the Scope of Accreditation of our ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Accreditation by ACLASS to include Beam Profiling equipment. This addition to our Scope of Accreditation expanded our current portfolio of offerings to include all product lines calibrated in the calibration lab at Ophir-Spiricon.
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Spiricon has worked tirelessly over the course of the last several years to enhance the customer service experience and to continue to provide a quality service to our customers. With customer satisfaction one of our main objectives, we have developed processes at all levels that help us reach this goal. Our highly skilled technicians have been rigorously trained to ensure that each piece of equipment that is calibrated and repaired is done so with accuracy and efficiency, providing our customers better and more responsive service.
...At Ophir-Spiricon we have raised the standard of service. One of the pillars of our business model is customer satisfaction, and we firmly believe that the level of customer focus we provide makes us stand out in our industry.
The services provided by our Recalibration and Repair department have continually evolved to become what they are today. For your convenience, we have developed many “extras” and integrated them into a standard part of our service. Providing these extras as part...
At very low powers the zero offset becomes important. This means that the sensor reads some value even if there is no input into it. This can be because of external heat sources or the fact that the meter is not zeroed properly. Now say that there is a zero offset of 10mW = 0.01W. If we are reading a laser of 10W, then the meter will read 10.01W, an additional error of 0.1%, very small. But if we are trying to measure 0.1W, then the reading will be 0.11W, an error of 10%! This is illustrated in the diagram below...
A common concern that I have heard throughout my years with Ophir-Spiricon is that many people do not understand the necessity of calibration. They do not understand what the calibration process entails, and how it can save them money, time, and frustration.
Our products are used throughout the world in many different areas, from medical and scientific processes to defense and industrial applications. With each application there are different usage parameters; however, one thing that remains consistent no...
Absorptive glass filters have varying degrees of non-trivial fluorescence, which can be problematic in some applications. Here’s a fairly simple way to check if a filter is fluorescing:
- Place the filter in a collimated beam with a power meter behind it, located very close to the filter and measure the signal.
- Increase the distance (>> 10x the beam diameter) from the filter to the power meter and measure again the signal..
BeamGage is a multiple process application with three process types which run when BeamGage is operating: Spiricon.ConsoleService.exe, Spiricon.DataServer.exe, and Spiricon.Version5.exe. These processes can be viewed in Windows Task Manager under the Processes tab.
Spiricon.ConsoleService.exe is a Windows service process that launches the BeamGage connections to cameras. Spiricon.DataServer.exe is the process which acquires data from cameras. Spiricon.Version5.exe is the main BeamGage...
Is it possible to image a UV laser with a Silicon Sensor CCD camera offered by Ophir-Spiricon? The answer is yes, but the direct UV light ablates Silicon CCD chips over time. The ablation is cumulative and depends on the intensity, the wavelength, and the duration of the light on the sensor. The best choice for imaging UV light without damage is to avoid directly imaging the beam on the CCD sensor by using an UV image converter...
Measuring the performance of a laser has possible for a number of years and is accomplished with a variety of techniques. These electronic laser measurement solutions give the laser user more relevant, time-based data that shows trends in laser performance rather than single data points. While these solutions have provided laser users with the ability to present data in a simple and easy to understand manner, the application of the data still seems to be unclear to many laser users.
- How often should data be collected?
- What measurements...
Abstract
The discovery of Rayleigh Scattering by 3rd Baron Rayleigh, John William Strutt, served an explanation of why the sky is blue during the daytime and different hues of orange, pink, and purple in the early morning hours and at dusk. But it was only recently that this phenomenon has been applied to the measurement of high-powered lasers. Only through the measurement of the laser source and laser system can the user of the laser fully understand its performance and then start to control the processes in which they...
VIDEO: Online Calibration Portal
Ophir-Spiricon is proud to announce the release of our new online Calibration Portal. This portal will allow you to track the status of open RMAs and maintain calibration information for all equipment. You may access our Calibration Portal at http://calibration.us.ophiropt.com. Please contact one of our...
The NanoScan 2s is the newest scanning slit, sensor-based, beam profiling system from Ophir-Spiricon LLC. It can profile pulsed laser beams with repetition rates in the 10 kHz range and above. To enable the measurement of these pulsed lasers, the profiler incorporates a "peak connect" algorithm...
Question: How can I be certain that my Beam Profiler is measuring accurately? Is there a standard calibration methodology?
Answer: There is no calibration standard from which one can verify their camera based beam profiling measurement accuracy. Spiricon has done the next best thing to provide customer confidence in reliable and consistent results from its camera based profilers. The issue can be broken down into two major areas; 1) the input (camera), and 2) the output (from software algorithms...
To handle a beam who’s power is unstable, you’ll first need to observe the behavior of the readings. Unstable power can take two forms:
1. Fluctuations , where the time constant is short,
2.Drift, where the time constant is longer...
Each Ophir power/energy sensor is provided with a functional data sheet with helpful information about its particular operational parameters and specifications. Below the typical specifications are notes, in fine print, partly because there is quite a lot of really useful information contained therein that is being sized to fit on one page. These notes are categorized as Notes: (a) (b) (c) (d) …etc. corresponding to their particular specification association.
These notes are very...
BeamGage does have the ability to run multiple instances while connected to the same camera source, which can add benefits such as simultaneous mutually exclusive results. For instance, you can display the Beam Width Major and minor result along with the Beam Width X and Y result, which on one instance of BeamGage is a one or the other limitation. Additionally through automation, the results from the multiple instances could be acquired simultaneously thus expanding the potential utility of the BeamGage application...
The NS v2 software is the same for both Standard and Professional, no need to download/install a different version. To perform the upgrade you must purchase the license for the NS v2 Professional. With the included license key you can click on the blue scanhead image in the left corner and select About from the dropdown, where you can then upgrade the scanhead from the Upgrade License box (see below)...
BeamGage does have the ability to lock out controls and the modification of reported results through the Options Privileges feature.
In BeamGage, click on the Options button and then the Privileges item and the following dialog box will open. In order to access this privilege control, the user must be assigned Administrator privileges on the local...
Over the years, different approaches have been used to heat treat metals, typically relying on large furnaces where an entire object is subjected to the heating process. This method can consume substantial amounts of energy and is not a useful approach when attempting to heat treat a specific area or portion of the equipment. The use of lasers to perform this heat treating process has become a well-accepted approach. Understanding the beam shape, the uniformity of its intensity, and the cleanliness of...