Laser beams with a ring-shaped profile are required in ophthalmology, laser welding, and the material ablation of thin films.
The ring profile must be produced. Often, classic axicons are used for this purpose: conical lenses and rotation-symmetrical prisms. These elements convert a laser beam with a Gaussian profile into a Bessel beam. Axicons are very difficult to produce for very large or very small fan angles because in such cases the cones have to be very flat or steep, respectively; thus, an optimal ring profile generally cannot be achieved.
Holo/OR now manufactures diffractive optics with an axicon structure. The advantages are immense:
Perfect ring profile: Irrespective of the fan angle, the ring profile is always perfect because the beam profile is produced using a grating.
Suited for all lasers with M² < 20, these elements may consist of thin fused silica or ZnSe. They are suited, for example, for single-mode fiber lasers, CO2 lasers, and solid-state lasers.
Independent of the incident beam: The incident beam can exhibit any TEMxy mode.
Elements Available in Stock: There are more than fifteen standard designs available with a peak-to-peak ring angle of 0.05° to 30° at 1064 nm, for example.
Do you wish to know how these DOEs differ from vortex DOEs and which element is better suited for you? Then give us a call!
