UV laser beam profile measurement by means of the photoelectric effect on the wires of a proportional chamber

Abstract A simple technique to measure the profiles of pulsed UV laser beams is described. Irradiating a cathode wire of a proportional chamber with UV laser shots results in signals from the anode wire whose amplitudes are proportional to the UV light intensity. Profile scanning is performed by shifting the chamber across the beam. The chamber can also be used with reversed polarities. This leads to avalanches developing outwardly from the signal wire. In this case we observe a quadratic dependence of the pulse height on the UV light intensity.