Laser Safety, 2nd Edition

17Introduction to Laser Beam Profiling

Larry Green

Introduction

Lasers produce light with many characteristics that are unique compared to other light sources. For example, the monochromatic nature of a laser beam means that it emits photons at a single wavelength with very little energy at wavelengths other than the central peak. The temporal nature of a laser beam enables it to vary from a continuous wave (CW) to an extremely short pulse providing very high power densities. The coherence of a laser enables it to travel in a narrow beam with a small and well-defined divergence or spread. This allows a user to exactly define the area irradiated by the laser beam. Because of this coherence, a laser beam can also be focused to a very small and ...