Coherent has expanded its range of LaserCam HR laser beam profilers with high resolution models designed for testing lasers in the ultraviolet and near infrared bands.
The LaserCam HR UV and LaserCam HR InGaAs join the existing LaserCam HR model to provide measurements of the shape of pulsed and CW laser beams from 190nm to 1.7µm. The devices will be distributed by Pro-Lite Technology.
The original LaserCam HR as well as the new LaserCam HR UV are based upon 1.3 million pixel CMOS sensors to provide performance and measurement accuracy in the 190 to 355 and 300 to 1,100nm bands respectively. The LaserCam HR InGaAs is based upon an uncooled InGaAs focal plane array detector with 320 x 256 pixels for profiling of IR laser beams in the 900 to 1,700nm wavelength range.
All models in the LaserCam HR family combine the speed and ease of use of a USB 2.0 computer interface with the power and ease of use of Coherent's BeamView Analyzer PC beam diagnostic software. A single interface cable that carries both signal and power on the same wire makes camera placement a snap. USB 2.0 connectivity assures compatibility with virtually all new computers, including laptops.
As a laser beam propagates, changes in the laser cavity, as well as changes in the beam divergence and its interaction with optical elements, cause the width and spatial intensity of the beam to change. Spatial intensity distribution is a fundamental parameter for indicating how a laser beam will behave in any application. Each LaserCam HR profiler can precisely measure the intensity distribution and beam size of almost any laser beam.
LaserCam HR profilers ship with Coherent's BeamView USB software, which provides real-time cross-sectional as well as 2D and 3D profiles that facilitates laser system tuning and optimisation. The beam parameters reported include beam position (centroid and peak location), beam size and shape (diameter and ellipticity), far-field data (divergence, pointing and bore-sighting), mode structure (uniformity and fit to Gaussian) as well as the beam power and power density (or energy and energy density for pulsed lasers). Statistical parameters reported include the mean, maximum, minimum and standard deviation for the beam parameters and beam wander. The software accommodates data-logging, supports pass/fail type reporting and can output an alarm for beam parameters that are out of range.