22 aot 2017

Primary author :Muhammad Arshad T P

Comment to muhammadarshad15@iisertvm.ac.in
Laser Beam Profile
(Dated: 22 aot 2017)
There are many applications of lasers in which the beam profile is of critical importance. When
the beam profile is important, it is usually necessary to measure it to insure that the proper profile
exists. For some lasers and applications this may only be necessary during the design or fabrication
phase of the laser. In other cases it is necessary to monitor the laser profile continuously during the
laser operation. For example scientific applications of lasers often push the laser to its operational
limits and continuous or periodic measurement of the beam profile is necessary to insure that the
laser is still operating as expected. Some industrial laser applications require periodic beam profile
monitoring to eliminate scrap produced when the laser degrades. In other applications, such as some
medical uses of lasers, the practitioner has no capability to tune the laser, and the manufacturers
measure the beam profile in design to ensure that the laser provides reliable performance at all
times. However, there are medical uses of lasers, such as photo-refractive keratotomy, PRK, wherein
periodic checking of the beam profile can considerably enhance the reliability of the operation. PRK
is an example of laser beam shaping which is a process whereby the irradiance of the laser beam is
changed along its cross section. In order for this laser beam shaping to be effective, it is necessary
to be able to measure the degree to which the irradiance pattern or beam profile has been modified
by the shaping medium.

Principle of Working ting the beam spot size, at different distances from the
laser with the help of the optical bread board. These can
The laser that we are working with is a rectangular one. also be tabulated and the resulting calculations lead to
So, any measurement done should has two primary orien- the necessary results.
tation taken into consideration and the results should be Beam Spot Size : Beam Diameter is defined as the
given for both the orientations separately. distance across the center of the beam for which the irra-
The setup is very simple. We have a laser and a detec- diance(I) equals e12 of the maximum irradiance. The spot
size of the beam if the radial distance from the center of
maximum irradiance to the e12 points.
Figure 1: Beam Divergence : The beam divergence of an elec-
tromagnetic beam is an angular measure of the increase
in beam diameter with distance from the optical aper-
ture from which the electromagnetic beam emerges. It is
given by

w1 w2
= (1)
d
where w1 and w2 are the beam spot sizes of a lase
tor(for measuring the intensity) set on an optical bread- beam mounted at two points separated by a distance d.
board. We have few attachments like a disperser and a ie, if one knows the beam diameter at two separate points
small aperture cap Which can be fixed on the detector. (w1 , w2 ), and the distance (d) between these points.(ie,
Firstly, we start wit the alignment of the laser beam. We d=Z1 -Z2 ) The beam divergence is given by
can do this by slowly adjusting the laser in its support
while checking the intensity pattern along two virtual w1 w2
= 2arctan (2)
horizontal lines at different heights on the beam cross- d
section. After this is done, we fix a distance for the detec-
For the laser we observe that the divergence is very less.
tor and take intensity measurements of the beam along
So, we can approximate tan to .Hence giving
a horizontal line passing the point with the maximum
intensity. This can be repeated with variants like with w1 w2
disperser alone, with cap alone, with disperser and cap. = (3)
d
Similar readings can betaken for the vertical orientation
of the laser beam too. The divergence of a laser beam is proportional to its wa-
For calculating the beam divergence, we calculate the velength and inversely proportional to the diameter of
maximum intensity of the beam, which helps in calcula- the beam at its narrowest point.
 2

d (mm) I (mA) From graph radius of spot at 515mm=3mm

0.5 0.1 Angle of Divergence = 0.0035rad in 10cm
1 0.2
1.5 0.4
2 0.7
2.5 1
For Slow axis at Z1 =415mm 3 1
3.5 0.9
Figure 3: For Slow axis at Z2 =515mm
4 0.9
4.5 0.6
5 0.5
5.5 0.3
6 0.1

Figure 2: For Slow axis at Z1 =415mm

Reference

maximum value of I = 1
from graph, radius of spot at 415mm = 2.65mm 1. Darchuk, J. (1991, May). Beam profilers beat
laser-tuning process. Laser Focus World, pp. 205212.
d (mm) I (mA)
0.5 0.1 2. Forrest, G. (1994, September). Measure for mea-
1 0.3 sure (Letters). Laser Focus World, p. 55.
1.5 0.5
2 0.9 3. Langhans, L. (1994, September). Measure for
2.5 1.2 measure (Letters). Laser Focus World, p. 55.
3 1.5
3.5 1.8 4. Roundy, C. B. (1990, June). A beam profiler
For Slow axis at Z2 =515mm
4 1.5 that stands alone. Lasers And Optronics, p. 81.
4.5 1.6
5 1.4 5. Roundy, C. B. (1990, July). The importance of
5.5 1.1 beam profile. Physics World, pp. 65-66.
6 0.8
6.5 0.5 6. Roundy, C. B. (1994, March). Instrumentation
7 0.2 for laser beam profile measurement. Industrial Laser
7.5 0.1 Review, pp. 5-9.