Yokogawa's TB200 optical power meter supports blue, red and near-infrared measurements, allowing a single unit to be used for measurements on CDs, DVDs and next-generation optical disks.
Yokogawa claims that its TB200 instrument is the world's first optical power meter to support blue, red and near-infrared measurements, allowing a single unit to be used for measurements on CDs, DVDs and next-generation optical disks, such as Blu-ray and HD DVD and related developments.
Devices such as next-generation optical disk recorders that use blue lasers (with a shorter wavelength than the red laser for DVDs) are already on the market, and optical disks of this type are now becoming widespread.
Since laser power is used to read and write to these optical disks, it is important to be able to measure the laser power magnitude during the optical disk development and production processes.
According to Yokogawa, as next-generation optical disks proliferate, there will be increasing demand for equipment having just one pick-up that can support all three disk generations, that is, next-generation optical disks, DVDs, and CDs.
And, as next-generation optical disk equipment enters production, there is a need for optical power meters with features such as removable sensor units and remote-control capabilities.
The TB200 optical power meter has been developed in response to these market trends and user needs, says the company.
Key features of the new instrument include a detachable optical sensor module for use on production lines; a large diameter light sensor that is ideal for picking up high NA (numerical aperture) light; and a USB interface to ease remote control and to transfer the measurement results to PC.
The TB200 has flat wavelength sensitivity characteristics for the three wavelengths - 405nm (blue), 660nm (red) and 785nm (near infrared) - used with next-generation optical disks, DVDs, and CDs.
Sensitivity is controlled to approximately 1% within +/-5nm of the centre wavelength in each band, without the need to set the measurement wavelength.
Since the sensor of the TB200 has an 18-mm wide photo-detection area, stable measurement even at high NA (0.85) is possible without the need for fine adjustment of the positions of the lens and sensor.
The instrument also carries out anti-reflection processing to eliminate the effects of multiple reflections.
The TB200 is suitable for to use in conventional research and development and on production lines.
It is designed so that the cover outside the sensor can be removed to allow the optical sensor module alone to be attached to the production equipment.
This design gives more flexibility in installation, and frees up space for the production equipment.
Through the USB interface, all TB200 functions can be remote-controlled at the high speeds essential for the manufacturing environment.
