Alaskan
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I've been searching, maybe asking the wrong questions, but so far I have not been able to find an answer regarding why some laser line generators use cylindrical plano-convex lenses and others use rod lenses.
Can someone help clear this up? I can see that a rod lens will have a focal point on both sides, well, anywhere around it since the curvature is constant, but other than that, don't understand why one or the other is chosen in a line generation laser assembly.
Thanks.
Here's my best guess, for the purpose of line generation, cylindrical plano-convex lenses are used for un-collimated light, rods for collimated, correct? Is that it? I imagine they could be used either way, but in general, are cylindrical plano-convex lenses used because their flat aperture on one side is without a focal point allowing them to be a better choice for the raw output of a laser diode when desiring a line output?
If this is true, why use rod lenses for collimated beams? Does it produce a better line or is it because a wide aperture isn't needed if a small collimated dot? Maybe because a rod lens, although having a focal length, doesn't care how far the lens is from the output of a collimated laser, it works the same at any distance (as long as the beam is small enough) to produce a line output, without the need to adjust the distance between the laser and the rod?
Did I just successfully reason these two questions out on my own?
Can someone help clear this up? I can see that a rod lens will have a focal point on both sides, well, anywhere around it since the curvature is constant, but other than that, don't understand why one or the other is chosen in a line generation laser assembly.
Thanks.
Here's my best guess, for the purpose of line generation, cylindrical plano-convex lenses are used for un-collimated light, rods for collimated, correct? Is that it? I imagine they could be used either way, but in general, are cylindrical plano-convex lenses used because their flat aperture on one side is without a focal point allowing them to be a better choice for the raw output of a laser diode when desiring a line output?
If this is true, why use rod lenses for collimated beams? Does it produce a better line or is it because a wide aperture isn't needed if a small collimated dot? Maybe because a rod lens, although having a focal length, doesn't care how far the lens is from the output of a collimated laser, it works the same at any distance (as long as the beam is small enough) to produce a line output, without the need to adjust the distance between the laser and the rod?
Did I just successfully reason these two questions out on my own?
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