beam properties (original) (raw)
Author: the photonics expert (RP)
Definition: properties of light beams
general optics- beam properties
Related: light beamslaser beams
DOI: 10.61835/h9a Cite the article: BibTex BibLaTex plain textHTML Link to this page! LinkedIn
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Light beams can have a range of properties; this article presents a brief overview:
| Property | Symbol | Units | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beam divergence angle | ($\theta$) | mrad, ° | a measure of how fast a laser beam expands far from its focus |
| Beam parameter product | BPP | mm · mrad | product of the beam radius in a focus and the far-field half-angle beam divergence |
| Beam pointing fluctuations | fluctuations in the propagation direction of a laser beam | ||
| Beam quality | a measure of how well a laser beam can be focused | ||
| Beam radius | ($w$) | m | a measure of the transverse extension of a light beam |
| Beam waist | the location with minimum beam radius | ||
| diameter–divergence product | mm mrad | product of the diameter (at a beam waist) and the divergence angle of a laser beam | |
| _M_2 factor | ($M^2$) | 1 | a parameter for quantifying the beam quality of laser beams |
In addition, there can be various properties of light which are not related to spatial effects — for example optical spectrum, optical power and pulse properties.
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