Single-shot laser beam profiling using multilevel imaging (Abstract Only)

Abstract

We describe a compact laser beam profiler that records multiple images of a laser beam at different positions along the beam waist in a single shot. This is used to determine the laser beam parameter M2. It is known that if light is incident on a curved grating such as a section of a Fresnel zone plate, then the +1 and -1 diffracted orders are focused or defocused. By combining two curved gratings and a conventional lens, it is possible to build a system in which a mosaic of nine images are created, corresponding to nine separate object planes. These nine images can be processed and fitted to an appropriate beam profile. This type of system measures beam quality in real time without any moving parts, and has the potential to provide real time monitoring of pulsed lasers, lasers with dynamic spatial behaviour, and in systems where beam handling optics may produce transient aberrations. Unlike other 'single shot' techniques, this technique makes no assumptions about beam propagation, and produces a value of M2 based only on measurements of beam waists.