Laser beam multimeter
AssigneeBeam Engineering for Advanced Measurement Co.
InventorsNelson Tabirian, Sarik Nersisyan
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Abstract
The objective of the present invention is providing a method and a simple instrument that can be used on a routine basis to accurately and quickly measure the focus position, waist radius, divergence, quality, power and power density of a laser beam. The measurement is performed by scanning a thin film of a nonlinear optical material in the focal region along the propagation direction of the beam and registering the variation of the on-axis intensity of the laser beam by a photodetector.
Claims22
An apparatus with the capability of simultaneously or separately measuring the size of a focused laser beam, focus position, divergence, beam quality, power and/or power density of a laser beam comprising:
- a. a nonlinear optical material;
- b. means for holding said nonlinear optical material
- c. means for moving said nonlinear optical material through the focal region of the laser beam;
- d. means for controlling said motion;
- e. detector means for receiving a portion of said laser beam and providing a signal according to the intensity of said laser beam during the scan of said nonlinear optical material through the said focal region;
- f. data acquisition and processing means connected to said sensor means for receiving said signal and for outputting information about the waist size, the position of the focus, the power and power density of the laser beam, or only a selection of one or more of those parameters, based upon the measured signal;
- g. indicator means for providing visual information about the measured selection of laser beam parameters.
An method for simultaneously or separately measuring the size of a focused laser beam, focus position, divergence, beam quality, power and/or power density of a laser beam comprising:
- (a) a nonlinear optical material;
- (b) means for holding said nonlinear optical material
- (c) means for moving said nonlinear optical material through the focal region of the laser beam,
- (d) means for controlling said motion;
- (e) detector means for receiving a portion of said laser beam and providing a signal according to the intensity of said laser beam during the scan of said nonlinear optical material through the said focal region;
- (f) data acquisition and processing means connected to said sensor means for receiving said signal and for outputting information about the waist size, the position of the focus, the power and power density of the laser beam, or only a selection of one or more of those parameters, based upon the measured signal;
- (g) indicator means for providing visual information about the measured selection of laser beam parameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.