Finding the center of the NanoScan

Finding the mechanical location of your laser beam can be important in some applications.

Using a NanoScan (Scanning Slit Beam Profiling) you can find a mechanical location of the center of your beam by following these steps:
1. Connect the NanoScan to the computer and open the software.
2. Start recording data
3. Go to the Computations tab and select the Rolling mode

4. Go to the Profiles tab
5. Under the Origin Location section of the Profiles tab
a. Click on the Default button
b. Click the Apply button

c. This will make the center of the profile windows have the 0 location in the center of the profile

6. Turn off the Auto Zoom for both profiles and zoom out all the way.
7. Illuminate the detector with a beam and try to center it as close to the 0 as possible.
a. Use the Centroid Position X & Y in your results area to see where the centroid position is in relation to the 0 position.

8. Rotate the NanoScan 180 degrees
9. The Centroid Positions will have changed slightly

10. Take the numbers given to you (as close as you can) and divide them in half
a. 27.082/2 = 13.541
b. -252.300/2 = -112.609
11. Input the numbers into the Origin Location section of the software and click the Apply button.

12. The numbers in your results should be fairly close to the ones you just entered in the last step (my example setup is not very stable so my results are quite large).

13. Move the NanoScan until the results are close to 0 in the results.
14. Rotate the NanoScan to the original position.
15. Repeat these steps until you are satisfied with how close you are to hitting the very center of the NanoScan
16. When you are satisfied, record the numbers located in the Reference boxes

These numbers can then be used as a reference to the center of the NanoScan.

You can test this location by shutting down the software and restarting; click Start; go to the Profiles tab; enter the numbers; and click Apply. This will give you the same origin location as you had established in the previous exercise.

Note: When the unit is sent in for repair/recalibration the location may change due to the repair.