EXPERIMENT- 1

OBJECT: To measure the spot size and divergence of a laser beam.

APPARATUS: Laser source, photo detector and meter scale. FORMULA USED: The divergence angle can be calculated from the formula

w(0)

Where w0 is the radius of the beam at laser cavity, is the wavelength of the laser source.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE: At first we leveled the He-Ne laser in such a way that the spot of laser beam have same height at different distances from the laser source. The experiment is carried out in two steps a. Measurement of spot size of beam b. Measurement of Divergence of beam.

(a) EASUREMENT OF SPOT SIZE OF BEAM: For this purpose the photo cell (which is fixed on a vernier scale) is manually inserted in the beam and corresponding output of detector is noted by multimeter. The output of the detector is plotted as a function of the position of the photocell. w (z) is the radius at which the field amplitude and intensity drop to 1/e and 1/e2 of their axial values, respectively.

(b) MEASUREMENT OF DIVERGENCE OF BEAM: To measure the divergence of beam, the beam spot sizes w (z) are measured at different distances from the laser source. The separation between laser source and photocell is measured by meter scale. The divergence angle is then calculated from the formula

w(0)

Where w0 is the radius of the beam at laser cavity and can be calculated by extrapolating the graph between w (Z) vs Z. is the wavelength of the laser source.

OBSERVATIONS:

Determination of the divergence angle

Table No. 1. At Z = 2 meter distance away from the source S.No. Vernier scale reading at the different points of the spot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Multimeter reading (unit)

Table No. 2 At Z = 3 meter distance away from the source S.No. Vernier scale reading at the different points of the spot. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Multimeter reading (Unit)

Table No. 3 At Z = 4 meter distance away from the source

S.No.

Vernier scale reading at the different points of the spot.

Multimeter reading (Unit)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Table No. 4 At 5 meter distance away from the source S.No. Vernier scale reading at the different points of the spot. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Multimeter reading (Unit)

w (Z)[cm]

w (0) calculated by extrapolating the curve

4 Z (m)

CALCULATIONS: According to our observations Radius of the spot at 2 m. distance w (2) = . cm. Radius of the spot at 3 m. distance w (3) = . cm. Radius of the spot at 4 m. distance w (4) = . cm. Radius of the spot at 5 m. distance w (5) = . cm. From graph is w (0) = . cm. Therefore the divergence of the beam can be calculated by using formula (1). PROBABLE ERROR: Calculate probable error d . RESULTS: 1) Radius of the spot at the cavity = cm 2) The divergence of the beam at the various distances from the cavity can be observed in the graph. 3) The angle of divergence of the beam = d ..