Top Hat Laser Beam Profile

In optics a tophat or top hat beam such as a laser beam or electron beam has a near uniform fluence energy density within a circular disk.

Top hat laser beam profile.

In cytometry a top hat beam ensures that each cell being monitored is illuminated with the same irradiance. This means that their irradiance decays smoothly from the centre point towards the edges. There are many applications in which this type of beam profile is undesirable as it. Laser beam shaping solutions top hat beam shaper a self contain input beam adaptable module to easily convert a laser beam to an uniform top hat profile.

Such beam profiles are required for some laser applications. A top hat laser beam also known as flat top laser beam is a laser beam whose intensity profile at certain optical plains typical the far field or the system focus plane is mostly flat unlike the typical gaussian like intensity profile of most laser beams. The vast majority of laser beams exhibit a gaussian irradiance profile. It is typically formed by diffractive optical elements from a gaussian beam.

Each application will demand its own type of top hat laser beam. In theory a gaussian irradiance profile is not bounded and thus it can expand indefinitely. A flat top beam or top hat beam is a light beam often a transformed laser beam having an intensity profile which is flat over most of the covered area. For instance in hole drilling the top hat beam can be square or circular whereas some applications in materials processing will benefit from a line or square profile distribution.