With the success of fiber and disk laser technology, high-power lasers are increasingly popular in manufacturing processes such as welding, cutting, laser-additive manufacturing (3D printing). Laser power measurements using radiation pressure offer several unique advantages.
Laser power measurements by means of photon momentum are faster and inherently in-situ. Our Group has demonstrated multi-kilowatt laser power measurements by means of radiation pressure and our program continues to grow in areas ranging from fundamental research, to instrumentation, to establishing high accuracy measurements traceable to the kilogram. Specific research areas include high-reflectance mirrors, electronic control systems, MEMs, microfabrication and modeling. Working with others at NIST and the international community of National Metrology Institutes, we seek to establish traceability to Planck’s constant by way of mass measurements and the kilogram for high-power laser
measurements.