Application Note: M² Measurement Solutions: Manual Or Fully Automated And Real-Time Systems

By Photon Inc.

Photon has a number of solutions for the measurement of M² ranging from simple manual processes to fully automated dedicated instruments. Depending on the frequency of the need to measure M² of laser and laser systems, Photon has a system that will meet most needs, whether for research and development of new laser systems, manufacturing quality assurance, or maintenance and service of existing systems.

Photon has two dedicated ModeScan instruments for automating the measurement of M². Our newest is the ModeScan 1780 that measures the M² Beam Propagation Ratio and all associated ISO 11146 parameters instantaneously in real time at video rates to over 20Hz. The measurement technique, patented by Photon Inc., uses 10 reflective surfaces to form simultaneous images of the propagating beam at 10 locations on the 12-bit FireWire BeamPro Model 2512 CCD array camera. With all ten measurement positions acquired at once, the instrument is suitable for measurement of both CW and pulsed lasers down to single-shot rates. Beam diameters are obtained with NISTtraceable accuracy to better than 2%, which translates to M² measurements with accuracy to better than 4%. The ModeScan 1780 is suitable for the measurement of lasers with wavelength of 250 to 1100nm.