BeamWatch Noncontact Industrial Beam-Monitoring System
MKS Ophir, Light & MeasurementRequest Info
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Sept. 13, 2013 — 
Ophir Photonics, a Newport Corp. brand, has introduced the BeamWatch, a system that provides noncontact monitoring of focus spot size and position for high-power YAG, disk, fiber and diode lasers in the 980- to 1080-nm range. It is suitable for materials processing applications such as laser cutting, ablating, sintering, drilling and welding.
Unlike a conventional system, which places a probe in the beam and takes up to two minutes to gather data and characterize the beam, the BeamWatch takes measurements every 60 ms, measuring the Rayleigh scatter caused by the beam. Besides instant readings of focus spot size and beam position, this process provides dynamic measurements of focal plane location during process startup.
The image seen in the instrument is not the laser beam itself, but rather the “Rayleigh scatter created by the beam as it travels through the instrument. It’s like measuring the beam sideways without interfering with the beam,” said Gary Wagner, general manager of Ophir Photonics (US). He said that the measurement process provides accurate readings of focal length, which affects how quickly material can be melted and various thicknesses processed.
For more information, visit: www.ophiropt.com
https://www.ophiropt.com/photonics
https://www.photonics.com/Buyers_Guide/MKS_Ophir_Light_Measurement/c10765
Photonics.com
Sep 2013