Being safe around lasers does not only imply the direct protection of humans. Being efficient with lasers does not only imply to improve how the laser beams are generated, amplified, compressed or delivered. The interaction of the laser beam with the targeted material itself is of crucial importance and must be monitored safely and accurately to ensure the mitigation of indirect, sometimes direct threats to humans and equipment.
Targets can be both what is put under the laser radiation for processing in research, industrial, medical applications, and what is put under the laser radiation when laser beam performances are controlled, ideally with a minimum impact on the integrity of the measurement device.
Good (safe, repeatable) measurements will tell how the laser will do what it is supposed to do. Bad measurements can lead to incorrect readings of the laser capabilities, potentially resulting in problems when lasers are used in the field. Then there are risks and potential hazards of the act of measuring laser beam power, pulse energies and beam profile incorrectly that are often underestimated. Welcome to the world of damaged detectors.
In this presentation we will categorize the different types of misuses and damages made to power meters, joulemeters and beam profilers, showing visual examples of broken detectors and present what specific misuses and damages can do to the working environment and associated costs. When the damage is not lethal to the detector, we will present how the accuracy of measurement is affected by the abuse.
