Laser Beam Dumps: The Safe Way to Trap High Power Lasers

If your application involves a laser which is not always on the target, such as the following setup, you might need a beam dump. Consider this setup:

The deflectable mirror is used to direct the laser to its intended target (industrial work piece or medical patient).  When the laser is not in use it is simply deflected elsewhere.  However, for many lasers, this poses a safety hazard.

Beam dumps are used for this purpose.  In basic physical terms, the beam dump will absorb all the hazardous laser energy and dissipate it gradually and safely as heat.

Beam dumps are very important to any laboratory laser setup.

At Ophir, there are a few beam dumps available, distinguishable mainly by their power handling capacity:

• Fan-cooled: 500 W / 1500 W
• Water-cooled: 5 kW / 10 kW

The beam dumps also boast high damage thresholds (5-10 kW/cm² for most of the above sensors).

Find out more about laser beam dumps here.