What is it about?
In my many year history of measuring focus spots of laser systems in the field, 9 out 10 systems which incorporate a laser beam expander telescope are misaligned. This misalignment leads to astigmatism, coma or the combination of the two. If one has the right measurement tool, the beam expander can actually correct inherent aberrations of the laser source.
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Why is it important?
Knowing that one's focal spot is as expected is important for any application.
Perspectives
Most people evaluate a laser beam system in the collimated, far field portion of the beam as it is easy. This, however, is very misleading as the aberrations that may be present and only manifest in the focal spot are too small to be sign in the far field. Knowing, therefore, the beam spatial profile in both the collimated and the focal spot near field positions is crucial for good system operation.
Michael J Scaggs
Haas Laser Technologies, Inc.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Optical alignment influenced aberrations in laser beam delivery systems and their correction, March 2015, SPIE,
DOI: 10.1117/12.2076630.
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