Development of a novel beam profiling prototype with laser self-mixing via the knife-edge approach

Yuanfu Tan; Hay Wong

doi:10.1117/12.2681594

26 September 2023 Development of a novel beam profiling prototype with laser self-mixing via the knife-edge approach

Yuanfu Tan, Hay Wong

Proceedings Volume 12667, Laser Beam Shaping XXIII; 1266708 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2681594
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Laser is widely used in industry, biomedical and other kinds of fields. Beam size is the most important parameter among the laser variables. Typical state-of-the-art profiling techniques employ either a scanning-based or camera-based system, using photodiodes or image sensors as the signal receiver. Despite their profiling capabilities, these systems do not tend to be budget-friendly and easy to operate. In this paper, a novel cost-effective beam profiling prototype based on self-mixing interference was developed to measure the Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) of a range of laser diodes by the knifeedge approach. The difference between our prototype and other systems is that the photodiode is placed behind the laser source, and beam size is calculated by analyzing the feedback signal. A commercial camera beam profiler was used to benchmark our prototype. Results show that though there is a variation of 45.29% between the measured beam size and the integrated beam size in the x directions due to diffuse and specular reflection, our USD 200 prototype has a high accuracy on the prediction of laser beam sizes. Our prototype could provide accurate predicted beam size for Gaussianalike beam. This is the very first study to explore the application of self-mixing interference in laser beam profiling. It is believed that our proposed approach has contributed to the on-going development of laser beam profiling methodology.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Yuanfu Tan and Hay Wong "Development of a novel beam profiling prototype with laser self-mixing via the knife-edge approach", Proc. SPIE 12667, Laser Beam Shaping XXIII, 1266708 (26 September 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2681594

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