Optical Beam Expander

An optical beam expander also known as a collimator or up collimator is a two or more element optical system that changes the divergence characteristics and the size of the beam.

Optical beam expander.

In most cases a beam expander is realized as an optical telescope consisting of two lenses in rare cases of two curved mirrors. Beam expander from shanghai optics. Used with collimated light they have important applications in remote sensing interferometry and laser scanning. They take a beam of light and expand its size.

How to build a beam expander beam expansion or reduction is a common application requirement in most labs using lasers or light sources and optics. Beam expanders are optical devices which increases the diameter of the input beam to produce a larger output. A beam expander will have a design input diameter as well typically a diameter smaller than the maximum input diameter where the optical performance of the beam expander is optimized. The fixed magnification sliding lens beam expanders are offered with optics that have either narrowband or wideband ar coatings.

Two different configurations are common. Thorlabs galilean type beam expanders which are available in both fixed and variable magnification options are offered for use in the uv visible near infrared and mid infrared spectral ranges. Beam expanders are optical systems for increasing or decreasing the diameter of a laser beam. A beam expander can enlarge an input beam by the factor m but it can also reduce it by the factor 1 m with a reversed optical beam path.

Contemporary laser beam expanders are afocal systems developed from well established optical telescope fundamentals. For more than 75 years edmund optics eo has been a leading producer of optics imaging and photonics technology. When the design input diameter of the beam expander matches the actual input beam diameter system performance will be optimized. Usually beam expanders are used to increase the diameter of laser beams.

Thorlabs variable magnification galilean beam expanders are available with either a 2x 5x or a 5x 10x continuously variable beam expansion ratio. They are also used to reduce the beam diameter which may be useful when using acousto or electro optic modulators. Laser beam expanders increase the diameter of a collimated input beam to a larger collimated output beam for applications such as laser scanning interferometry and remote sensing. Our fixed magnification rotating lens optical beam expander.