Cheng, H.
, Deisenroth, D.
, Mekhontsev, S.
and Malen, J.
(2026),
Profiling High Powered Laser Beams for Additive Manufacturing by Imaging their Diffuse Reflections, CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=961730 (Accessed August 20, 2026)
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Profiling High Powered Laser Beams for Additive Manufacturing by Imaging their Diffuse Reflections
Published
Author(s)
Hao-Yuan Cheng, , , Jonathan Malen
Abstract
We report a method for profiling high-power laser beams for additive manufacturing (AM) using a monochrome camera to image diffusely scattered light from a rough surface. Conventional laser profiling systems utilized for AM applications can be prohibitively expensive and have limited resolution, limited power tolerance, or can only measure radially symmetric profiles. We compare our diffuse scattering approach to a conventional laser profiler with multiple scattering surfaces (borosilicate crown glass diffuser (Schott N-BK7), Teflon tape, tungsten carbide, and tungsten) over laser spot diameters spanning 80 to 1100 and powers spanning 100 W to 1000 W for a spot diameter of 98 . Spot diameters measured with the N-BK7 glass diffuser had an average absolute difference of 4.1 % across all diameters, relative to a conventional laser profiler. Our method contrasts with conventional laser beam profilers, providing an inexpensive solution for characterizing high-power laser beam profiles in AM applications with common tools in the AM space. As the AM community researches different beam shaping techniques and their effects on melt pool physics, beam profile validation is a key aspect of process planning and monitoring.Citation
CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology
Pub Type
Journals
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Keywords
Laser beam profiling, Laser power density distribution, Additive manufacturing, Beam metrology, Diffuse scattering, High-power lasers, Beam shaping, Laser spot size
Citation
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Created July 10, 2026, Updated August 18, 2026