Peak power measurement of nanoscale short-pulse laser

Limited by the volume and power of lasers, nanosecond short-pulse lasers are commonly used in laser communication, laser range finder, laser guidance, pulse laser Radar, high-speed photography and 3D imaging systems. Therefore, as one of the key laser indicators, the nanosecond short-pulse laser peak power measurement is essential. In this paper, a new method for measuring peak power of nanosecond short-pulse laser is proposed. The peak power can be measured directly by extending the pulse width without using super high speed ADC chip. Research is made from two parts: detector and control host. As for the detector, a new attenuation unit is designed, which can well suppress the peak power decrease caused by the traditional detector broadening the short pulse and realize the original waveform output (non-distortion). In the control host, a new pulse broadening circuit is proposed, which realized the peak signal acquisition of 20ns pulse width (5ns rising edge) laser without the use of ultra-high speed ADC acquisition chip. The measurement system can achieve technical indicators as follows: the measurable pulse width is 20ns～150us, Pulse rising edge is 5ns～10us, the repetition frequency is 100Hz～500kHz, and the measurement range of laser peak power is 1W～500W.