How does laser power meter calibration work?
Our partner Gentec-EO did publish a nice article of how calibration of laser powermeter’s do work, we would like to share with you:
Accuracy of readings from a laser power meter is particularly important for laser system manufacturers and laser engineers. Providing them with highly reliable power meters with the best uncertainty is an art requiring several important calibration steps.
Calibration is crucial to minimize uncertainties
In broad terms, the calibration process consists in verifying the accuracy of a measurement by comparing it to a reference standard. Instruments that measure a quantity require such process to minimize the measurement uncertainty.
Whether it’s weighing scale at a grocery store, the speedometer of your car, or the thermometer at your home, obtaining measurements with the lowest uncertainty possible is what gives consumers and businesses confidence and trust in their products and processes.
Like all of the previously mentioned devices, laser power detectors also go through a calibration process to allow accurate reading of power or energy parameters. A specific laser beam has many parameters which affect the power measurement process; so it is important to trust a laser detector that can maintain its accuracy for a long time and meet the end user’s need for high precision measurements.
For this reason, it is necessary for the manufacturer to follow a robust calibration process to achieve a detector with the highest accuracy, precision, reproducibility and repeatability, and the lowest uncertainty and error.