Wavefront-guided alignment of laser systems

Modern laser systems such as solid-state lasers, femtosecond lasers or similar – as used in micro structuring, laser cutting or medical applications like LASIK – consist of complex optical systems whose adjustment requires expert knowledge and considerable experience. The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor SHSLab excels at such tasks due to its excellent basic accuracy, precision and robustness, and thus simplifies the workflow. In addition, the wavefront measurement and Zernike analysis allow a quantitative assessment of the laser beam quality post adjustment.

The extreme measurement range of the Optocraft SHSLab wavefront sensors is a clear benefit for manufacturers of laser-optical systems: a wavefront measurement can be carried out even when the initial state is strongly misaligned. The results indicate the direction for the following alignment steps. The process can be further optimized with additional knowledge of the system behaviour, e.g. from a simulation, thereby minimizing the number of loops.