Modematic - a fast laser beam analysing system for high power CO_2-laser beams

摘要

The performance of an industrial laser is very much depending upon the characteristics of the laser beam. The ISO standards 11146 and 11154 describing test methods for laser beam parameters have been approved. To implement these methods in industry is difficult and especially for the infrared laser sources, such as the CO_2-laser, the available analysing systems are slow, difficult to apply and having limited reliability due to the nature of the detection methods. In an EUREKA-project the goal was defined to develop a laser beam analysing system dedicated to high power CO_2-lasers, which could fulfil the demands for an entire analysing system, automating the time consuming pre-alignment and beam conditioning work required before a beam mode analyses, automating the analysing sequences and data analysis required to determine the laser beam caustics and last but not least to deliver reliable close to real time data to the operator. The results of this project work will be described in this paper. The research project has led to the development of the Modematic laser beam analyser, which is ready for the market.