Beam shaping is an indispensable tool for improving seam height, edge smoothness, strength and throughput within the material processing industry. The desired beam output can be achieved using custom fibre bundles with a specific arrangement, digital mirror devices and diffractive optical elements (DOEs). The distinct advantages of DOEs over the other methods is the potential to produce virtually any shape and that they are passive components i.e. no mechanical parts or electronics are needed.
The adjustable shaping functionality can be achieved when the clear aperture of the DOE is divided into mini regions with their own beam shaping properties. These regions can be divided into angular segments, with each segment producing different shapes (e.g. stripes and squares). This type of beam shaper coupled with an X-Y translation stage allows for flexible beam shaping. Positioning of the beam with respect to the subapertures of the DOE controls the resulting beam shape.
LASER COMPONENTS offers a range of standard DOEs which cater for a large range of input wavelengths and input diameters with a range of resulting output sizes and shapes. For the abovementioned adjustable-function beam shapers these would be a custom solution to your requirements.
More information https://www.lasercomponents.com/uk/product/diffractive-optical-elements-for-beam-shaping/
