Scanning Slit Laser Beam Profilers for Medical Engineering

MKS Instruments, Inc. (Andover, MA) has new additions to their Ophir® NanoScan™ 2s line of high power, scanning slit laser beam profilers. NanoScan machines are NIST-calibrated profilers that instantly measure beam position and size with sub-micron precision for CW and kHz-pulsed lasers. NanoScan 2s profilers use moving slits – an ISO standard scanning aperture technique – to measure beam sizes from µm to mm at beam powers from µW to kW. The natural attenuation provided by the slit allows the measurement of many beams with little or no additional attenuation required. A built-in digital controller provides 16-bit digitization of the signal for high dynamic range up to 35 dB power; this makes it possible to measure beam size and beam pointing with 3-sigma precision to several hundred nanometers. The silicon or germanium detector-based NanoScan 2s includes an integrated 200 MW power meter that displays both total power and individual power in each of the beams being measured.

NanoScan 2s profilers offer a choice of silicon, germanium, or pyroelectric detectors that allow profiling lasers of any wavelength, from UV to far infrared, to 100 μm and beyond. The Ophir NanoScan 2s Pyro/9/5-MIR is a lower cost profiler designed to measure mid IR wavelengths from 900 Nm to 5 µm. This joins the rest of the NanoScan 2s family of products, which now includes:

• The new NanoScan 2s Pyro/9/5-MIR: wavelengths 900 Nm to 5µm, beam sizes 20 µm to 6 mm.
• NanoScan 2s Si/3.5/1.8: wavelengths 190 Nm to 1,100 Nm, beam sizes 7 µm to 2.3 mm.
• NanoScan 2s Si/9/5: wavelengths 190 Nm to 1,100 Nm, beam sizes 20 µm to 6 mm.
• NanoScan 2s Ge/3.5/1.8: wavelengths 700 Nm to 1,800 Nm, beam sizes 7 µm to 2.3 mm.
• NanoScan 2s Ge/9/5: wavelengths 700 Nm to 1,800 Nm, beam sizes 20 µm to 6 mm.
• NanoScan 2s Pyro/9/5: wavelengths 190 Nm to >100 µm, beam sizes 20 µm to 6 mm.

A special software offer in place through the end of 2018 enables users to upgrade from NanoScan Standard to NanoScan Professional software for a nominal charge. NanoScan software includes an extensive set of NIST-traceable ISO measurements for beam width and roundness, beam position, and M2. The Professional version adds an ActiveX automation interface for sharing data with other applications, such as LabVIEW® or Microsoft ® Excel. “NanoScan scanning slit profilers are designed to measure smaller beams than is possible with CCD camera technology,” explained Reuven Silverman, the general manager at Ophir. “They are ideally suited for very small beam diameters and are often used by manufacturers of laser beam sources, such as for medical engineering.”

MKS Instruments, Inc., Ophir Business Unit U.S., 3050 North 300 West, North Logan, UT 84341, 435-753-3729, sales@us.ophiropt.com, www.ophiropt.com/photonics.