Laser beam diagnostic system for high power cw CO₂ lasers

The instrument has been designed and developed for the measurements and monitoring of high power CO₂ laser beam parameters decisive for the results of the laser-material processing. The spatial power density distributions across the beam can be measured for the focused and unfocused beams of diameters from 0.18 mm to 21 mm. The maximum intensity that can be recorded at the focus is to 107 W/cm2. The instrument allows also to control the temporal properties of the beam by recording 1D cross sectional profiles of the beam power density distribution. The data analysis software developed for the beam diagnostic system processes the acquired data and displays the resulting power density distributions in a variety of ways including 2D and 3D plots. The software calculates the characteristic beam according to ISO standards. Recording and graphical visualization of the spatial beam characteristics allow to control and choose the radiation parameters required for the optimization of the technological process.