Measuring Diffuse Reflectance
How much light is scattering off of that? Most objects scatter light in all directions. How can we catch it all?
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The Focal Spot Size Calculator
There are matrix methods that can be used for propagating the diameter and curvature of the beam, but if your main interest is simply the location of the new focus (i.e. beam waist) or the size of the focal spot, you can use the Focal Spot Size Calculator tool on the Ophir website. Dr. Ivker Our expert – will explain you how
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Measuring Average Power of Pulsed Lasers with Photodiodes
When measuring average power using a photodiode detector such as PD300 or IS6-D-VIS, the maximum power or saturation power is determined by the maximal photocurrent that the photodiode can generate while still maintaining linearity. The saturation power is typically 3mW for a bare silicon photodiode. Adding attenuation in the form of a filter or through…
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Photodiodes – Remedy for a Weak Pulse
Considerations for using photodiodes to measure pulsed beams In most cases, pulsed beams are measured using pyroelectric detectors. However, for pulsed lasers with very high repetition rates (>100 kHz) or very weak pulses (<0.1 uJ), pyroelectric detectors won’t work. If a measurement of average power is sufficient, then often a thermal sensor can be used. …
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When not to get upset by an offset?
When working close to the maximum power rating of a thermal sensor, have you ever noticed the display reading going to negative values between measurements? What is the possible meaning of negative power?
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Meet the Optical Vortex
Mark Ivker (Ophir’s Research Physicist) explains what would it take to fully characterize a general beam of light …
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