UNDERSTANDING

LASERS &
LAser optics

Understanding
Application
lasers
notes
and laser optics

Fundamentals of Lasers
How do they work?
The basic structure of any laser is based on an active medium (either a gas or semiconductor) contained between two reflectors. A lasers reflectors oscillate light back and forth
through the medium many times, allowing energy to build up with each pass. This laser
radiation escapes due to a partially reflecting mirror in the assembly. This light can be
used for a variety of applications.
Cladding Layer

Minor Axis

Active Layer
Cladding Layer
Emitting Area
Major Axis

Beam Divergence: The beam divergence is the specification that defines how much the
beam spreads out over distance. It is defined by the full angle. In diodes, this is specified with two values because the presence of astigmatism creates an elliptical beam. (See
Figure 1)

Figure 1

Laser Diode Module

Line Generator

x = 2y tan (/2)
-1
= 2 tan (x/2y)
where, = Fan Angle
x = Line Length

Fan Angle: The angle produced by accessory line or pattern generators. See Figure 2.

/2

Figure 2
A) Gaussian Beam With Diode

B) Segmented Beam With

Low Cost Diffractive Optic

C) Actual Beams Using Refractive &

Diffractive Optics (See page 213)

Elements of a Laser
Beam Size: The beam size refers to the diameter of the laser beam, measured at the exit
face of the laser housing. See Figure 1.

Output Power: The output power is the maximum power value after the beam exits the
laser housing; in other words, the power is rated after passing through (but not before)
any optics. Values stated are typically within 10%. The intensity has a Gaussian profile,
meaning it is highest at the center of the beam and dissipates outward.
Class: This is the CDRH (Center for Devices and Radiological Health) warning label required on all laser products. The class designation (II, IIIa, or IIIb) corresponds to the
maximum amount of laser radiation emitted from the laser at a specific wavelength.
Detectability/Visibility: The visibility of the laser spot (when viewed by your eye or another detector) depends on the signal to noise ratio (SNR). SNR is a ratio between the
amount of signal (laser energy) and the noise (background non-laser illumination). Higher
SNR means that the laser spot is more detectable. For visual applications, keep in mind
that the closer to 550nm (green) the laser wavelength is, the brighter it will appear. In
detector applications, use filtering to increase your SNR and perhaps utilize a lens to limit
the field of view. Laser wavelengths should also be selected to best match a detectors
responsiveness.
Lifetime: To extend lifetime, power supplies should be selected to run at the lowest voltage value possible. Heat sinks are recommended and must be used if operating near maximum voltages. Maintaining a diode at the low end of the operating temperature range
can also extend the lifetime. Diode modules typically have a lifetime of 10,000-20,000
hours compared to the 100,000 hour typical lifetime of the diode component.

Edmund Optics carries a growing line of optics specifically targeted at laser applications. With years of experience in the production of optical components and systems, EO will work with you to develop a solution to meet your optical system requirements. We
can deliver high quality laser optics at highly competitive prices and rapid turnaround times.
Manufacturing: Our laser grade optical components and assemblies are designed on highly homogeneous glass substrates with
low scratch-dig surface figures. Through advanced manufacturing technologies such as Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) and
state-of-the-art 3D optical profiling equipment, we can produce and qualify highly polished surfaces resulting in low wavefront
distortion and high damage thresholds.
Coatings: Our thin-film optical coating manufacturing facility can coat components that require extremely precise spectral and
polarization control. We can produce high-precision color, UV and IR filters, anti-reflection (AR) and beamsplitter coatings with
excellent quality. Our bandpass and band-reject laser grade filters provide high peak transmission along with excellent blocking
to yield maximum brightness and contrast. All our laser grade filters are manufactured using hard coatings and use no adhesives
resulting in a high degree of environmental durability.
Mirrors: Our laser mirrors offer high reflectivity, at either specific laser lines or over a broad range of wavelengths, and high laser

101 East Gloucester Pike | Barrington, NJ USA 08007-1380 | 1-800-363-1992 | www.edmundoptics.com

COPYRIGHT 2008 EDMUND OPTICS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

laser optics

Application
COATINGS
notes

laser optics
damage thresholds. Our stock laser mirrors feature low absorption coatings deposited on a fused silica substrate with
10-5 or better surface quality. With surface accuracies of a
fraction of a wavelength, these mirrors are ideally suited for
applications requiring minimum scattered light.
Windows & Beamsplitters: Our laser grade windows and
beamsplitters are available on precision excimer grade UV
fused silica substrates offering excellent thermal stability,
low wavefront distortion and ultra-low auto-fluorescence.
While our stock laser windows are available with arc-seconds
of parallelism between front and rear surfaces, we can offer
wedged versions as a custom to meet application needs.
Aspheres: With our aspheric generating and deterministic
glass polishing machines, we are capable of producing high
quality single element aspheric lenses to focus laser light to
diffraction-limited spot sizes. These same lenses can be used to collimate broadband and/or monochromatic light from a
point source.
Beam Expanders: In addition to optical components, we offer fully integrated optical products specifically targeted for laser
applications. These include our TechSpec Fixed Power and Laser Diode Beam Expanders AR coated for the visible range
and our BeamX Laser Beam Expanders which are available coated and damage threshold tested for 633nm, 785nm and
the Nd:YAG wavelengths (532nm and 1064nm). Our mounted anamorphic prism pair can be used in conjunction with any
one of our beam expanders to reshape the elliptical beam output of laser diodes before it is expanded.
Beam Manipulation: Other products include our F-Theta scan lenses which are designed for CO2 (10.6m) and Nd:YAG
(1064nm) laser systems that employ X-Y galvo scanning mirrors. Our microscope objectives, often used to focus high-energy
laser beams to diffraction-limited spot sizes, are available with color-correction over the UV, visible and infrared wavelength
range. For applications that require use over wide spectral bands with no focus shift, we offer our TechSpec ReflX objectives. These reflective objectives are designed and manufactured to provide low wavefront distortion, minimal obscuration
and high reflectivity from 190nm to the 11m range.

using laser beam expanders

KEPLERIAN BEAM EXPANDER

Di i

EFL 2

BFL 1 + BFL 2

Do

MP = EFL 2
EFL 1

Collimated
Output
Beam

Do = (MP)Di

o = i

MP

Plano-Convex Lens

Achromatic Lens

GALILEAN BEAM EXPANDER

Di

EFL 2

EFL 1

Do

EFL
EFL

Do=

(MP)Di

o =

BFL 2 BFL 1
Plano-Concave Lens

MP =

2
1

MP

Achromatic Lens

Figure 1: This equation is an approximation for the collimated output beam size at a given distance.
Note that the beam divergence specifications in our catalogs are for the full angular spread of
the beam.

101 East Gloucester Pike | Barrington, NJ USA 08007-1380 | 1-800-363-1992 | www.edmundoptics.com

COPYRIGHT 2008 EDMUND OPTICS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Laser
Beam
Input

EFL 1

Laser beam expanders are designed to decrease the lasers

beam spot size at large distances. There are two main types
of beam expanders: Keplerian and Galilean. In its simplest
form, the Galilean type consists of a positive and a negative focal length lens whereas the Keplerian type consists of
two positive focal length lenses. Both designs provide a certain angular magnification, called the Expander Power. The
beam diameter is first increased in size by this power and
then the beam divergence is reduced by the same power.
This combination yields a beam that is not only larger, but
one that is also highly collimated. The result is a smaller
beam at a larger distance when compared to the laser alone
(Equation 1.0).

In addition, an expanded beam can yield smaller spot
sizes when used in combination with additional focusing
optics. This is very useful in focusing optimization. However, many applications simply require a larger continuous
beam.
The beam expander power (MP) is equal to the ratio of the
effective focal length (EFL) of the objective lens to the effective focal length of the entrance optic. The physical separa-

COATINGS

AntiReflection Coatings
The relation between beam expander power, input and output beam divergences as well as lens spacing for both Keplerian
and Galilean type expanders is:
Equation 1.0: BL = b + QL(0.3048)
where: BL = Beam Diameter (mm) at distance L

b =
=

Q =
=

L =

Increase in Beam Diameter

Beam Diameter (mm) x Expander Power
Decrease in Beam Divergence
Beam Divergence (mrad) / Expander Power
distance (ft.)

Distance
1.2m
1.5m
2.5m
5m
10m

5X
439.19m
559.62m
961.07m
1964.86m
3973.17m

Beam Expander Power

10x
219.63m
279.84m
480.54m
982.26m
1985.49m

20x
111.04m
141.47m
242.89m
496.36m
1002.87m

The 1/e2 spot diameters listed were calculated from the equation: 2 * f/# * l where f/# is the working f/#.

All Edmund Optics designed beam expanders are of the Galilean type. The advantages of the Galilean design over the
Keplerian are twofold: 1) The Galilean design contains no internal focal point and 2) The overall length of the Galilean as
compared to a similar power Keplerian design is smaller.
In addition to improving beam collimation, all Edmund Optics beam expanders can be used to focus laser beams. The
simulated focusing performance for the 5x, 10x and 20x beam expanders is listed above for comparison. The spot sizes are
given in units of microns and were calculated for a 0.63mm diameter laser beam at 632.8nm assuming M2=1 and a perfectly collimated input beam.

AVAILABLE OFF-THE-SHELF

Laser Mirrors

BeamXBeam Expander

F-Theta Scanning Lens

Laser Diode Module

800.363.1992

www.edmundoptics.com

101 East Gloucester Pike | Barrington, NJ USA 08007-1380 | 1-800-363-1992 | www.edmundoptics.com

COPYRIGHT 2008 EDMUND OPTICS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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