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. 2017 Nov;29(4):042003.
doi: 10.2351/1.5004090.

Femtosecond Laser Eyewear Protection: Measurements and Precautions

Christopher J Stromberg  1 , Joshua A Hadler  2 , Brian G Alberding  3 , Edwin J Heilweil  3
Affiliations

Femtosecond Laser Eyewear Protection: Measurements and Precautions

Christopher J Stromberg et al. J Laser Appl. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

Ultrafast laser systems are becoming more widespread throughout the research and industrial communities yet eye protection for these high power, bright pulsed sources still require scrupulous characterization and testing before use. Femtosecond lasers, with pulses naturally possessing broad-bandwidth and high average power with variable repetition rate, can exhibit spectral side-bands and subtly changing center wavelengths, which may unknowingly affect eyewear safety protection. Pulse spectral characterization and power diagnostics are presented for a 80 MHz, Ti+3:Sapphire, ≈ 800 nm, ≈40 femtosecond oscillator system. Power and spectral transmission for 22 test samples are measured to determine whether they fall within manufacturer specifications.

Keywords: Femtosecond lasers; Laser Safety; eyewear protection; optical density; retinal injury; ultrafast.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Optical layout of apparatus employed to measure laser eyewear sample transmission at low peak power input fluence from a femtosecond modelocked Ti:Sapphire oscillator. Expander/collimator optics used with ≈ 1 cm beam diameter at sample.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Transmission spectra (arb. Intensity scaling for clarity) for several test samples listed at left compared to the laser output spectrum (red). The specified OD values supplied by the commercial filter sources (Spec OD) are compared to those measured directly suggesting the measured densities are lower because of inherent pulse spectral width and side-bands outside the 800 nm specification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. See ANSI Z136.1

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