White Papers and Case Studies

61. Creating A Passive Laser Beam Analyzer Through A Haas Laser Technologies And Xenics Partnership 10/13/2017

    High power CO2 lasers produce a beam of infrared light with wavelengths centering typically at 9.3 or 10.6 μm. Haas Laser Technologies, Inc. has developed a compact, all passive optical design laser beam analyzer for focused laser beams from a CO2 laser with wavelength range from 9.3 to 10.6 μm. In conjunction with a Fabry-Perot resonator and Xenics’ Gobi-640-GigE microbolometer camera, the new beam analyzer offers laser beam measurement and analysis for continuous-wave (CW) as well as pulsed lasers.

62. Which Industrial Cutting Method Is Right For You? 3/28/2017

    Some applications require one specific type of cutting method and the other two methods are out of the question. This application note presents the process of each industrial cutting method, and comparisons between laser cutting, water jets, and mechanical cutting.

63. Intro To Laser Management: Laser Profiling 101 1/25/2017

    Traditionally, laser operators only verify a laser’s average power or energy to improve efficiency and, if everything is in order, put their laser back into service. This article discusses steps required to identify and use a camera profiling system (arrayed camera, attenuator, and beam dump) for laser management.

64. Reducing Production Waste With Laser Profiling And Characterization 1/25/2017

    A critical component in a laser manufacturing process is the understanding of which process parameters or key control characteristics must be measured and how they will relate to product quality and waste. A laser profiling system can be a great benefit for characterizing and identifying which variables affect product quality and waste minimization. Unfortunately, many companies realize this too late and incur more expenses and extended downtime than necessary when trying to implement the system near the end of the process. This article dives into a method of using in-house tools, like laser profiling, to characterize and optimize a process in advance so that product quality and process variability may be understood and maintained.

65. Project Overview And Passive Component Development: Integrated Disruptive Components For 2µm Fiber Lasers (ISLA) 1/18/2017

    The ISLA project was a research and development project with the goal of developing “building block” components of compatible and self-consistent active and passive fibers, fused fiber couplers and combiners, fiber-coupled isolators, modulators and high power pump laser diodes. This project also intended to develop a CW, a pulsed and a short pulse laser demonstration laser for use in applications testing. This paper delivers an overview of the project, the results from G&H work on developing passive components for 2 µm fiber lasers, and the research efforts on different isolator materials with the largest Verdet constants to be used in 2 µm isolators.

66. Developing Mid-IR Fused Fiber Couplers 1/18/2017

    Increasing use of fiber lasers and fused fiber technology for industrial, medical, and sensing applications has led to the development of fused fiber devices in all-fiber system architectures. This article demonstrates G&H efforts developing single-mode fused couplers in a ZBLAN fiber in the mid-IR range.

67. Benefits Of Acousto-Optic Devices For Operation With 2mm Fiber Lasers 1/18/2017

    Fiber lasers operating in the 2 µm region with a large mode area in an “eye safe” region of the spectrum are attractive to many applications such as laser machining and biomedical systems. G&H has made recent developments in acousto-optic modulators and tunable filters that are specifically optimized for fiber systems operating at or around 2 µm. This article discusses the important consideration of the choice of interaction medium, such as acousto-optic devices, especially for the polarization behavior of the device when used in a fiber system.

68. How To Chop Diode Laser Beams Electrically At High Speed With Low Noise 8/23/2016

    It is often necessary to have an understanding of how to chop a laser beam. Chopping diode lasers electrically is actually less costly and much simpler than doing so mechanically. This white paper walks through the process of chopping a diode laser beam at high speeds and low noise.

69. Reimaging UV Laser Beam Profiling 6/30/2016

    Ophir-Spiricon offers three families of UV converter products designed for the indirect measurements of UV laser beam profiles. This application notes compares and contrasts each family, and covers their basic specifications and applications.

70. University Research Team Faces Challenges Of Measuring Multiple Lasers 6/30/2016

    There are often times where several laser sources must be tested, validated, or qualified for a particular project. Unfortunately, by the time scientists realize that these measurements need to be made, the laser systems are typically already in place, the experiments are ready to be conducted, and any delays could be counterproductive. Therefore, laser measurement equipment needs to be cost effective, commercially available, easy to use, quick to set up, and operate at a high level of performance. This application note describes the challenges a university had in measuring three different lasers, and how they solved this problem with the Ophir-Spiricon XC-130 InGaAs beam profiling camera.