Ophir Photonics Featured Articles
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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.
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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.
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Utilizing A New Autofocus Technique For Laser Systems With Optimet's Non-Contact Distance Sensors
11/30/2016
Many of today’s conventional marking, welding, drilling, and cutting laser systems have the challenge of focusing the laser accurately on the object’s surface. As the demand for faster and more precise manufacturing processes increase, the need to control the focal point of a laser becomes much more critical. This application note discusses a new laser measurement method that integrates Optimet sensors into laser systems, offering the benefits of autofocus capabilities while upgrading a number of system performances.
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Materials Processing: When Laser Measurements Absolutely, Positively Must Be Made
11/30/2016
To improve laser-based processes, a variety of parameters must be measured. There are five times within a laser system’s lifetime where the collection and application of laser performance measurement data are critical to the process’ outcome.
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Measuring Small-Beam MFD: Overcoming the Challenges
10/7/2016
Accurate beam size measurements for beam sizes under 10 μm are critical for many applications such as fiber optic coupling efficiency, defect scanning, optical design, and optical fabrication process control. The challenges for such a measurement include the use of focal plane arrays that are too large to reasonably profile without magnification, the high mechanical precision of the beam profiling apparatus, and the beams’ high divergences and rapid expansion. Reliable profiles for such small beams, however, can be obtained using near-field or far-field profiling techniques. This article presents and in-depth discussion of each technique, diagrams for their systems' set-up, and the benefits for using each one.
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Additive Manufacturing And 3D CAD
10/7/2016
This article discusses the process of transforming a 3D CAD model into a mechanical component, as well as how to use a camera based beam profiling system to assist in achieving consistently accurate constructs.
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Select The Right Laser Power Sensor By Asking The Right Questions
10/7/2016
When a sensor turns out to be an incorrect choice, the system could procure inaccurate measurements, premature failure, and costly full disc replacement and recalibration. This article presents three critical questions to ask before selecting a laser power sensor for a specific application.
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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.
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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.
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Minimizing Corrosion In Water Cooled Sensors
4/1/2016
This article presents recommendations on minimizing corrosion that occurs in water cooled sensors.