Keplerianbeam expander

There are variable beam expanders (zoom expanders), i.e., devices where the magnification can be adjusted in a certain range (e.g. from 2× to 5× or from 5× to 10×). Those contain at least three lenses and some fine mechanics to adjust the position of at least one of them.

For very high laser powers, purely reflective beam expanders (with mirrors instead of lenses) are used. This is because thermal effects such as thermal lensing are weaker on mirrors. Also, that way one can avoid any parasitic reflections. A disadvantage, however, is that some amount of astigmatism is generally introduced by the mirrors.

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Laserbeam

If we expand the scanning beam, will the scanning angle decrease? Is there any way to expand the beam after the scanning optics?

For application with pulsed lasers, the used lens coatings should also have a sufficiently high optical damage threshold. Further, one should avoid operation with misaligned high-power beams, which could lead to overheating of some parts.

In most cases, a beam expander is realized as an optical telescope consisting of two lenses (or in some cases of two curved mirrors). Two different configurations are common:

For minimum losses of optical power, the lenses are usually equipped with anti-reflection coatings. These, however, work only within a limited wavelength range.

For achieving a given magnifying power (expansion ratio, ratio of beam radii), one may use different values of focal length. Most compact solutions are possible with small focal lengths, but there are limitations. In particular, one may then require lenses with very high numerical aperture, if at the same time a large output beam radius is required. Therefore, beam expanders for operation with large beams are tentatively longer.

How to make abeam expander

Shanghai Optics Inc's custom beam expanders are used in many applications such as laser ranging, laser illumination, interferometry, etc. In high-power laser systems, beam expanders are used increase the beam area without significantly affecting the total laser energy. This results in a reduction of the laser power density which reduce the risk of damaging the coatings and optical materials of optical components. In a laser ranging system, a beam expander is used to minimize the laser divergence, resulting in a smaller collimated beam at a long distance.

Standard off-the-shelf Galilean type zoom beam expanders and compact beam expanders. Our engineers can design a custom beam expander solution to fit your application.

Beam expander

Edmund Optics has a variety of beam expanders, including devices for different wavelength regions (e.g. Nd:YAG and CO2), rotating or non-rotating optics for divergence adjustment and research-grade devices.

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When modifying the beam radius, one also modifies the strength of beam pointing deviations. For example, doubling the beam radius implies that angular changes of the output beam are only half as strong as those of the input beam.

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In laser technology and general optics, one often works with collimated beams, by definition having a roughly constant beam radius over some length. Sometimes, it is necessary to substantially modify a beam radius, for example in order to achieve a reduced beam divergence for transmitting the beam over a larger distance. For that purpose, beam expanders can be built and are also available as fixed optical components.

Gaussianbeamcalculator

Beam ExpanderThorlabs

Beam expanders are generally not designed for use with divergent beams, but only for collimated beams, and only within a certain range of beam radii. Otherwise, one may obtain clipping effects and/or not get a collimated beam out. Obviously, a beam can be collimated over a certain length only if its beam waist is large enough. As an example, Figure 3 shows the evolution of beam radius in the same beam expander is considered in Figure 1, but with a five times smaller initial beam radius. Here, the beams can no longer be considered as collimated beams.

Photonic Devices' precision Galilean beam expanders have been sold globally for over 20 years and include an extensive number of standard models. These multi-element beam expanders have been computer-designed to provide excellent wavefront quality with minimum beam deformation. All lens elements are air spaced and the majority of models have variable air spacing for collimation adjustment. All lens surfaces have multilayer antireflection coatings, with power handling capabilities over 1 kW (> 200 W for beam expanders operating at 10.6 microns).

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A good familiarity with Gaussian beams is a good basis for understanding the operation of beam expanders and similar devices.

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Beam expanders are optical devices which increases the diameter of the input beam to produce a larger output. Used with collimated light, they have important applications in remote sensing, interferometry, and laser scanning.

Using cylindrical lenses, one can realize beam expanders which work in one transverse direction only. For that purpose, one may also use anamorphic prism pairs.

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Yes, beam expansion necessarily reduces the scanning angles – just as it also reduces the beam divergence angle. This cannot be avoided simply with additional (fixed) optics.

Optogama designs and manufactures laser beam expanders, beam reducers and divergence compensators which are used to increase or decrease laser beam diameter and control beam divergence:

Available in singlet, doublet (positive and negative focal lengths) and triplet varieties, Knight Optical can supply customised beam expanders for a range of laser-based, cutting-edge projects. Whether your application works in the ultraviolet (UV), visible, near-infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (MIR) or far-infrared (FIR) spectrum, opting for our custom-made components allows you to specify suitable substrates for your required wavelength.