WM100 In Stock

The WM100 by ThorLabs is a beam waist analyzer that is both easy to use and cost-effective. The WM100 is the perfect tool for calculating the waist size of an input laser beam, as defined by the 1/e2 intensity points, and displaying the result on a front panel digital display. Additionally, an analog output of the beam profile is provided on a front panel BNC to monitor the measured beam.

The principle of operation of the WM100 is based on measuring the rise-time of the integrated waveform of a scanning knife edge as it passes through the cross-section of the input beam. The linear speed of the knife-edge is simultaneously measured along with the rise time. A microprocessor then computes the waist size from the measured rise-time and knife scanning speed, which is displayed on a large LED digital display. The WM100 is fully compliant with the ISO international standard for measuring beam widths and utilizes a Silicon photodetector to measure beam waist sizes through the wavelength range of 400 to 1000 nm.

The WM100 is designed to be both simple to set up and easy for the user to operate. The optical head of the device features an 8-32 tapped mounting hole (M4 for WM100-EC) on the bottom of the base, which is typically used by a threaded TR-series ∅0.5” post. The optical head also boasts a spring-loaded detent swivel, which allows the scan direction to be rotated 0, 45, 90, 135, and 180° positions while keeping the beam centered on the detector. This feature is particularly useful since the scanning edge technique only measures the beam profile along a single axis. By simply rotating the head, a complete beam measurement can be made. The optical head easily plugs into the RJ-45 modular connector on the rear panel.

With the use of an RS-232 interface, the WM100 can be operated remotely. Operating the WM100 is as simple as plugging the head into the unit, turning the system on, and reading the measurements. The unit provides a number of diagnostic messages to help make using the unit easy. The WM100 is easily connected to a standard 9-pin serial port, commonly found on PCs, using a Male-Female DB9 interface cable. It is important to note that the WM100 serial port is a subset of the RS-232 standard and does not use any handshaking, therefore, the hardware handshake lines RTS/CTS and DSR/DTR are internally jumpered.