There are many ways these can be used. Here are a few:
Increasing power density: each laser application requires a certain beam diameter from the laser used.
To achieve the largest possible power density at the focal point, the collimated beam is expanded to its maximum; incidentally, this reduces the divergence of the beam.
For high laser power: the beam expanders introduced here are designed using the principles of the Galileo telescope; they do not have an intermediate focus. This allows our beam expanders to function at a laser power of up to 100 W. Standard expanders are available for the wavelengths 10.6 µm (CO2), 1064 nm (Nd:YAG), 532 nm, and 355 nm.
Fixed and variable expanders: the working principle for variable expanders is that the distance between the lenses can be changed in order to compensate for the divergence of the input beam. The entire length of the system can vary by ±3 mm; expanders with a fixed focal length do not allow these types of adjustments and are inexpensive.
Zoom expanders: these expanders allow a smooth magnification of 2x to 8x. These expanders are variable and have many advantages. Due to their flexibility, they are particularly well suited for laboratory applications.
