Request a Quote arrow Photon's quick and easy RFQ wizard to get pricing on the best profiler for your application.

About Photon Inc.

Your source for accurate and repeatable laser diagnostics.

“If you can measure it, you can begin to understand it and improve it.”

— Lord Kelvin

Photon Inc. was founded in 1984 by John Fleischer to fill a need that he had encountered while developing laser printers for IBM—a simple, accurate, and reliable laser beam profiler. Photon was the first company to provide an XY profiler to determine beam size and ellipticity in one rapid measurement. Over the years Photon has developed a number of dedicated beam profiling systems to measure lasers and light sources for many wavelengths and power levels, becoming in the process the de facto standard for laser beam measurement.

The BeamScan was the original profiler that Photon developed. This system remained the workhorse profiler until the introduction of its successor, the NanoScan, in 2003. Although the BeamScan is still produced in limited quantities, the NanoScan provides modern electronics and improved precision and flexibility, while maintaining the basic operational principles of the BeamScan.

In 1998 Photon introduced the LD series, a family of goniometric radiometer far-field profilers for the measurement of divergent sources such as laser diodes, VCSELs, optical fiber and waveguides. This patented technique allows a full 360° irradiance pattern to be measured without moving either the source or the detector. In addition to the measurement of the sources above, applications for this instrument include other divergent light patterns such as diffuser screens and materials and LEDs.

Photon has developed specialized instruments to assist with beam collimation, measurement of the laser propagation ratio, M2, and near-field profiling of small junctions and sources. Photon has a full line of profilers based on the scanning-slit technology first developed with the BeamScan, goniometric radiometry and systems based on CCD and CMOS arrays.

Photon is dedicated to laser beam profiling, providing precision beam profilers for the entire laser industry.

Photon will use our combined 100+ years of laser and fiber beam characterization experience with the photonics industry to solve complex optical problems and provide semi-customized measurement system designs. Bring your requirements to us, and let us put our experience to work for you. If you are looking to solve an automation, manufacturing, design or test and measurement problem, Photon offers our experts as an optical, mechanical and software consulting team. Call Photon at 408-226-1000, email us at support@photon-inc.com, or fill out our Ask a Photon Expert form to learn more about how Photon can assist you with your measurement solutions.