Determination of the laser beam waist
Abstract
Background: An interferometric method for measuring the position of the beam waist of laser radiation, which defines the origin of the coordinate system for the spatial parameters of the beam, is considered. Information about the location of the beam waist plays a crucial role in laser ballistic gravimetry, laser interferometry of lengths, optical metrology, and precision laser barometry.
The aim of the work: Improving the accuracy of beam waist location while simultaneously reducing the complexity of the measurement process.
Materials and methods: A method has been proposed that leverages the dependence of the wavefront curvature of the beam on the distance to the beam waist. The initial laser beam is split into a reference and an information beam using a shear interferometer, forming a nonlocalized interference field in the reflected light. The period of the interference fringes, observed at any cross-section of the interference field, contains information about the position of the beam waist relative to this cross-section. The distance from the beam waist to the plane where the fringe period is registered is calculated using Gaussian optics formulas.
Results: An interferometric method for determining the position of the laser beam waist has been developed, implementing the known relationship between the wavefront curvature in a given cross-section of the radiation beam and the distance from this cross-section to the beam waist. Experimental studies confirmed the viability of the interferometric method for determining the position of the laser beam waist. The obtained results allow recommending this method as the most accurate currently available.
Conclusion: Studies of measurement devices revealed that for the LG-56 laser with a divergence angle of about 10', both methods ensure result consistency with an accuracy of approximately 2%. However, as the divergence angle decreases, particularly with changes in the beam waist position, the accuracy of result consistency diminishes. The cross-section method, recommended by ISO 11146-1 standards, is appropriate for determining the beam waist position for beams with divergence angles exceeding 30", though it involves an error of about 10%. The limitations of this method arise from increased errors in determining the waist position. The interferometric method is effective for identifying beam waists with divergence angles exceeding 5', providing an error of no more than 5%.
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References
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