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BeamExpanders
Alaserbeamexpanderisdesignedtoincreasethediameterofacollimatedinputbeamtoalargercollimatedoutput beam.Beamexpandersareusedinapplicationssuchaslaserscanning,interferometry,andremotesensing. Contemporarylaserbeamexpanderdesignsareafocalsystemsthatdevelopedfromwellestablishedopticaltelescope fundamentals.Insuchsystems,theobjectrays,locatedatinfinity,enterparalleltotheopticalaxisoftheinternaloptics andexitparalleltothemaswell.Thismeansthatthereisnofocallengthtotheentiresystem. THEORY:TELESCOPES Opticaltelescopes,whichhaveclassicallybeenusedtoviewdistantobjectssuchascelestialbodiesinouterspace,are dividedintotwotypes:refractingandreflecting.Refractingtelescopesutilizelensestorefractorbendlightwhile reflectingtelescopesutilizemirrorstoreflectlight. Refractingtelescopesfallintotwocategories:KeplerianandGalilean.AKepleriantelescopeconsistsofpositivefocal lengthlensesthatareseparatedbythesumoftheirfocallengths(Figure1).Thelensclosesttothesourceimage,orthe objectbeingviewed,iscalledtheobjectivelenswhilethelensclosesttotheeye,orimagecreated,iscalledtheimage lens. AGalileantelescopeconsistsofapositivelensandanegativelensthatarealsoseparatedbythesumoftheirfocal length(Figure2).However,sinceoneofthelensesisnegative,theseparationdistancebetweenthetwolensesismuch shorterthanintheKepleriandesign.PleasenotethatusingtheEffectiveFocalLengthofthetwolenseswillgiveagood approximationofthetotallength,whileusingtheBackFocalLengthwillgivethemostaccurateanswer.

Figure1:KeplerianTelescope[ViewLargerImage]

Figure2:GalileanTelescope[ViewLargerImage] TheMagnifyingPowerortheinverseofthemagnificationofthetelescopeisbaseduponthefocallengthsoftheobjective andeyelenses. (1)

(2)

Ifthemagnifyingpowerisgreaterthan1,thetelescopemagnifiesifthemagnifyingpowerislessthan1,thetelescope minifies. THEORY:LASERBEAMEXPANDERS Inalaserbeamexpanderdesign,theplacementoftheobjectiveandimagelensesisreversed.IntheKeplerianbeam expanderdesign,thecollimatedinputbeamfocusestoaspotbetweentheobjectiveandimagelenses,producingapoint withinthesystemwherethelaser'senergyisconcentrated(Figure3).Thefocusedspotheatstheairbetweenthelenses, deflectinglightraysfromtheiropticalpath,whichcanpotentiallyleadtowavefronterrors.Forthisreason,mostbeam expandersutilizetheGalileanbeamexpanderdesignoravariantofit(Figure4).

Figure3:KeplerianBeamExpander[ViewLargerImage]

Figure4:GalileanBeamExpander[ViewLargerImage] WhenusingtheKeplerianorGalileandesigninlaserbeamexpanderapplications,itisimportanttobeabletocalculate theoutputbeamdivergence,whichdeterminesthedeviationfromaperfectlycollimatedsource.Thebeamdivergenceis dependentuponthediametersoftheinputandoutputlaserbeams.

(3)

TheMagnifyingPower(MP)cannowbeexpressedintermsoftheBeamDivergencesorBeamDiameters. (4)

(5)

Interpretingtheaboveequations,oneseesthatwhiletheOutputBeamDiameter (DO )increases,theOutputBeamDivergence(O )decreasesandviceversa. Therefore,ifyouusethebeamexpanderasabeamminimizer,thebeam diameterwilldecreasebutthedivergenceofthelaserwillincrease.Thepriceto payforasmallbeamisalargedivergenceangle. Inadditiontotheabove,itisimportanttobeabletocalculatetheoutputbeam diameterataspecificworkingdistance(L).Theoutputbeamdiameterisa functionoftheinputbeamdiameterandthebeamdivergenceafteraspecific workingdistance(L),(Figure5).

Figure5[ViewLargerImage] (6)

Laserbeamdivergenceisspecifiedintermsofafullangle,therefore,theaboveequationisexpressedintermsofI and notI /2. SinceabeamexpanderwillincreasetheinputbeambytheMagnifyingPoweranddecreasetheinputdivergencebyitas well,substitutingequations(4)and(5)into(6)resultsinthefollowing. (7)

(8) APPLICATIONEXAMPLES Example1 Numericalexampletoexplorepreviouslymentionedbeamexpanderequations. InitialParameters BeamExpanderMagnifyingPower=MP=10X InputBeamDiameter=1mm InputBeamDivergence=1mrad WorkingDistance=L=100m CalculatedParameter OutputBeamDiameter (9)

ComparethistotheBeamDiameterwithoutusingabeamexpanderbyusingequation(6). (10)

Althoughabeamexpanderwillincreasetheinputlaserbeambyaspecificexpansionpower,itwillalsodecreasethe divergencebythesameexpansionpower,resultinginasmallercollimatedbeamatalargedistance. Example2 Theoreticalexampleforreducingalaserbeam'sdivergenceatalongworkingdistanceusingabeamexpander. Inadditiontoimprovingbeamcollimation,beamexpanderscanbeusedtofocuslaserbeams.Thefollowingtableshows simulatedfocusingperformanceforthe5X,10Xand20Xbeamexpanders.Thespotsizesaregiveninunitsofmicrons andarecalculatedusinga0.63mmdiameterlaserbeamat632.8nmassumingM2 =1andaperfectlycollimatedinput beam. Distance BeamExpanderPower 5X 1.2m 1.5m 2.5m 5.0m 10m 439.19m 559.62m 961.07m 1964.86m 3973.17m 10X 219.63m 279.84m 480.54m 982.26m 1985.49m 20X 111.04m 141.47m 242.89m 496.36m 1002.87m

Note:The1/e2 spotdiameterslistedwerecalculatedfromtheequation:2*f/#*wavelength,wheref/#istheworking f/#. EDMUNDOPTICSPRODUCTS ExamplesoftheapplicationoftheGalileantelescopedesigntolaserbeamexpanderscanbefoundin severalEdmundOpticsproducts,allofwhichcanbeusedtocollimateandfocuslaserbeams.OurFixed PowerHeNeBeamExpandersisasimpletwolensdesign,consistingofanegativelensandachromatic lens.Drawingoftheinternalopticalelementsisshownforreference.

EdmundOpticsalsooffersaC O2 AdjustableBeamExpanderthatutilizestwoZincSelenidelensesto expanda10.6mlaserbeam.ConstructionissimilartoourFixedPowerHeNeBeamExpandersand LaserDiodeBeamExpanders.

OurTECHSPECFixedPowerLaserBeamExpanderimprovesuponthesimpletwolensdesignwitha proprietarymultielementlensdesignthatenhancesitsabilitytocreateacollimatedorfocusedlaser beamdiameteratalongworkingdistance.

Note:Selectlaseropticproductsarenotavailableinalllocations.PleasecontactyourRegionalSalesOfficetoinquire aboutavailability. References 1. Greivenkamp,JohnE.FieldGuidetoGeometricalOptics.Bellingham:SPIEPress,2004.Print. 2. OPTEC:NationalCenterforOpticsandPhotonicsEducation.Laser/ElectroOpticsTechnologySeriesCourse2: GeometricOptics.Waco:CORDCommunications,2008.Print. 3. Smith,WarrenJ.ModernOpticalEngineering.3rded.NewYork:McGrawHill,2000.Print.

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