Laser Beam Profiling

Most people working with lasers today are trying to do something with the light beam, either as the raw beam or, more commonly, modified with optics. Whether it is printing a label on a part, welding a precision joint or repairing a retina, it is important to understand the nature of the laser beam and its performance. Laser beam profiling provides the tools to characterize the laser and know precisely what the beam is doing at the point of the work and if the optics are having the desired effect. Lasers and laser applications come in many varieties, varying in power density, wavelength, depth-of-focus, beam size, pulse duration and myriad other parameters. It is this variety that makes lasers so useful for interacting with and manipulating many different materials and media. But, it is also this variety that adds complexity to the beam profiling process.