A collimated beam (i.e the beam diameter is near constant over a long distance) is desirable in many laser applications. Flying optics cutting systems, and long beam paths, are just two situations where a “collimator”, “beam expander” or “telescope” is used to achieve a level of collimation.

The product of beam diameter and beam divergence is a fixed quantity, related to the quality of the laser. To lower beam divergence, beam diameter must be increased, so collimation always involves expanding the beam.

There are many optical configurations that will expand and collimate a laser beam, some are based on lenses, others use aspheric optics. For simplicity, ease of alignment, and performance a “Z” configuration using copper mirrors is widely used for infra red applications.

Beam Expanders need careful design, and have to take account of many factors. Fortunately our supplier has the technical ability and software to optimise all the parameters to ensure the correct results for your system.

We also offer to supply just the optics and design data for beam expanders. Customers such as laser manufacturers, researchers, and systems builders, can then incorporate a beam expander into their own equipment.

It is also possible to use a beam expander in reverse to reduce a beams diameter, perhaps to interface with test equipment or other optical systems with a limited input aperture.