Diagnostic & Safety Equipment

When maintaining or troubleshooting a laser system, the proper tools can make the difference between a straightforward task, skillfully performed, and frustration. To help our customers make the most of their valuable time, Directed Light carries an array of practical diagnostic and safety equipment including protective eyewear, autocollimators, laser power meters and probes, beam imaging equipment, HeNe alignment lasers and RF instruments.

Remember, industrial laser systems can be dangerous. Improper service procedures can lead to serious injury or death. Industrial lasers should be serviced only by trained technicians.

Autocollimators re used to align the optical components on an Nd:YAG laser rail. The autocollimator system consists of an illumination bulb and power supply, a projection lens system and a viewing eyepiece. After ensuring that the laser system is completely shut off, the technician uses the autocollimator to project a beam of light down the optical path, through the Nd:YAG rod and the front and rear mirrors. Each optical surface will send a reflection back to the autocollimator. These reflections can be viewed through the eyepiece. The technician aligns or “tunes” the laser rail by mechanically adjusting each optical component until the reflected spots are overlapping. Once the reflections are overlapping, the system is ready to lase. Fine tuning for best mode and peak power can then be performed with an imaging plate and power meter. 

Laser Power Meters are extremely useful instruments for anyone operating, troubleshooting or tuning a laser system. With a properly selected detector head, a power meter can be used to continuously monitor the output power or per-pulse energy in a laser beam. This continuous use capability is very helpful when tuning a laser for peak output power. Displays are available with analog or digital readout. The more sophisticated consoles can provide a wide range of real time and recorded data on the laser’s performance. 

Protective Eyewear is a must when working with an unshielded Nd:YAG laser beam. Several styles of safety glasses and goggles are available. Lenses are made of plastic or glass filtering material. Plastic lenses are lightweight and less expensive than glass lenses. However, glass has better visible transmission. This makes glass lenses more comfortable to wear, and a must for viewing a HeNe alignment laser.
Glasses can be ordered with a corrective prescription, bifocal or no correction. Goggles will fit comfortably over the wearer’s regular prescription glasses.