Mounted Half-Aperture Foils for Knife-Edge Scans


  • Mounted Half-Aperture Foils Compatible with 1" Mounts
  • Designed for Manual Knife-Edge Scans
  • Stainless Steel, Gold-Plated Copper, and Tungsten Foils Available

KEMW

Tungsten Half-Aperture Foil
Ø1" Anodized-Aluminum Housing

KEMK

Stainless Steel Half-Aperture Foil
Ø1" Anodized-Aluminum Housing

KEMCB

Gold-Plated Copper Half-Aperture Foil
Ø1" Anodized-Aluminum Housing

Front

Back

Related Items


Please Wait
KEMx Half-Aperture Foil Drawing
Click for Detail

Dimensions of the KEMx Mounted, Half-Aperture Foils.
KEMCB Mounted With A Micrometer
Click to Enlarge
View Imperial Product List
Item #QtyDescription
KEMW1Ø1" Mounted Half-Aperture Foil, Tungsten
TR21Ø1/2" Optical Post, SS, 8-32 Setscrew, 1/4"-20 Tap, L = 2"
PH21Ø1/2" Post Holder, Spring-Loaded Hex-Locking Thumbscrew, L = 2"
MT111/2" Translation Stage with Standard Micrometer, 1/4"-20 Taps
DM71311" Travel Micrometer Head, Digital Readout, Spherical Spindle Tip
RSP11Rotation Mount for Ø1" (25.4 mm) Optics, 8-32 Tap
SS25S025011/4"-20 Stainless Steel Setscrew, 1/4" Long, 25 Pack
View Metric Product List
Item #QtyDescription
KEMW1Ø1" Mounted Half-Aperture Foil, Tungsten
TR50/M1Ø12.7 mm Optical Post, SS, M4 Setscrew, M6 Tap, L = 50 mm
PH50/M1Ø12.7 mm Post Holder, Spring-Loaded Hex-Locking Thumbscrew, L=50 mm
MT1/M112.7 mm Translation Stage with Standard Micrometer, M6 Taps
DM71311" Travel Micrometer Head, Digital Readout, Spherical Spindle Tip
RSP1/M1Rotation Mount for Ø1" (25.4 mm) Optics, M4 Tap
SS6MS61M6 x 1.0 Stainless Steel Setscrew, 6 mm Long, 25 Pack
A KEMW half-aperture foil is used with a translation stage and digital micrometer. 

Features

  • Precision-Cut Half-Aperture Foils for Knife-Edge Beam Quality Measurements
  • Foils Available with Blackened Stainless Steel, Gold-Plated Copper, or Uncoated Tungsten
  • Mounted in Ø1" Black-Anodized Aluminum Housings
  • D-Shaped Aperture with a Height of 0.20" (5.0 mm)

These precision-cut half-aperture foils are designed to be used in manual beam quality measurements where a straight knife-edge is required or for picking off unwanted light from a laser path. Each foil is mounted in a Ø1" black-anodized-aluminum housing and provides a D-shaped clear aperture with a height of 0.20" (5.0 mm). See the drawing to the right for details. The foil and D-shaped clear aperture have a combined diameter of 0.42" (10.5 mm). The black anodized housings are compatible with many of our Ø1" optic mounts and lens tubes

Knife-Edge Scan Beam Quality Measurements
These half-aperture mounted foils are ideal for performing knife-edge scan beam quality measurements. For an accurate knife-edge measurement, all of the power must be contained within <0.20" (5.0 mm) of the D-shaped aperture. Precise position measurements can be made using one of Thorlabs' manual stages with a micrometer and one of the half-aperture foils mounted in a Ø1" optic mount. The DM713 digital micrometer provides easy and precise measurements and is compatible with any manual stage that accepts a Ø3/8" barrel. In the image above, an RSP1 rotation mount is used to allow for accurate alignment of the knife edge to the vertical for an x-axis scan.

For 2-axis measurements of the beam, a XZ dual-axis stage such as a pair of Thorlabs' MT1(/M) 1/2" (12.7 mm) travel stages mated using an MT402 right angle bracket can be used. Other Thorlabs' manual or motorized stages can also be used to perform these measurements as well. 

Power measurements can be made using one of Thorlabs' power meter consoles and sensors such as the PM100D console with an S121C power sensor.  

Half-Aperture Foil Material Options
Thorlabs' precision pinholes are available with an assortment of fabrication materials and coatings. The choice of a material should depend on the application. Low-power applications may benefit more from the absorbance of blackened stainless steel foils. High-power applications may need the high damage threshold and reflectance of gold-plated copper foils, or the high melting point and lower reflectance of our tungsten foils. Please see the Foil Comparison for more information.

Precision Pinhole and Optical Slit Selection Guide
Material Product
Blackened Stainless Steel Circular Precision Pinholes
Square Precision Pinholes
Optical Slits
Tungsten Foil Circular Precision Pinholes
Stainless Steel with
PVD Black Coating
Circular Precision Pinholes
Molybdenum Foil (Rear) and
Absorptive Polymer Coating (Front)
Circular Precision Pinholes
Gold-Plated Copper Foil (Rear)
and PVD Black Coating (Front)
Circular Precision Pinholes
Gold-Plated Copper Foil (Front)
and PVD Black Coating (Rear)
High-Power Circular
Precision Pinholes

Precision Pinholes and Slits
Thorlabs offers precision pinholes with blackened stainless steel, gold-plated copper, tungsten, or molybdenum foils. Our pinholes with stainless steel foils are blackened on both sides for increased absorbance and are available from stock in circles from Ø1 µm to Ø9 mm and squares from 100 µm x 100 µm to 1 mm x 1 mm. Our stainless steel pinholes with a black PVD coating are vacuum compatible and available in 5 μm to 2 mm diameters. Our pinholes with gold-plated copper foils, plated with gold on one side and black PVD coated on the reverse, are available with pinhole diameters from 5 µm to 2 mm. High-power gold-plated copper foil pinholes are also available, with the gold-plated copper foil on the front face, and a PVD black coating on the rear. Our pinholes with tungsten foils are uncoated and available with pinhole diameters from 5 µm to 2 mm. Lastly, our pinholes with molybdenum foils have an absorptive polymer coating on the front sides and are available with pinhole diameters from 5 µm to 2 mm. We also offer slits in blackened stainless steel foils from stock with slit widths from 5 to 200 µm.

If you do not see what you need among our stock pinhole and slit offerings, it is also possible to special order pinholes and slits that are made with different foil materials, have different hole sizes and shapes, incorporate multiple holes in one foil, or provide different hole configurations. Please contact Tech Support to discuss your specific needs. For more information on the properties of the bulk materials from which the pinholes are fabricated, see the table below.

 

Material Properties
Depending on the application, it can be important to consider the material properties of the pinhole or slit. The material used to construct the aperture can have varying levels of melting point, density, and thermal conductivity, as detailed in the table below.

Material Properties
Material 300 Series Stainless Steela Copperb Tungsten Molybdenumc
Melting Point 1390 - 1450 °C 1085 °C 3422 °C 2623 °C
Density 8.03 g/cm3 8.96 g/cm3 19.25 g/cm3 10.28 g/cm3
Brinell Hardness 170 MPa 878 MPa 2570 MPa 1500 MPa
Damage Thresholdd (10 ns Pulse, 1 kHz @ 355 nm) 1.54 MW/mm2 4.82 MW/mm2 9.39 MW/mm2 6.34 MW/mm2
Thermal Expansion Coefficient 16.2 (µm/m)/°C 16.7 (µm/m)/°C 4.5 (µm/m)/°C 5.0 (µm/m)/°C
Specific Heat @ 20 °C 485 J/(K*kg) 385 J/(K*kg) 134 J/(K*kg) 250 J/(K*kg)
Thermal Conductivity 16.2 W/(m*K) 401 W/(m*K) 173 W/(m*K) 138 W/(m*K)
Thermal Diffusivity @ 300 K 3.1 mm2/s 111 mm2/s 80 mm2/s 54.3 mm2/s
  • Stainless steel pinholes and slits are blackened on both sides to increase absorbance. The material properties will be predominantly that of bulk stainless steel.
  • Gold-plated copper pinholes have a thin coating of gold on one side of the bulk copper foil. With a beam incident on this side, reflectance will be dominated by the properties of the thin gold coating (77% @ 800 nm), while thermal properties will be predominantly copper-based.
  • Molybdenum pinholes have an absorptive coating on the front side. The material properties will be predominantly that of bulk molybdenum.
  • Damage threshold data refers to the bulk materials listed here only.

 

Reflectance
The reflectance of the foil material or coating affects performance in a variety of applications. Below is presented a reflectance graph for all the materials and coatings that are offered with our circular and square precision pinholes, as well as our mounted optical slits. The raw reflectance data can be found here.

It is important to note that the front of the gold-plated copper foil circular precision pinholes have a low-reflectance PVD black coating. The rear of these pinholes leaves the gold-plated copper foil bare. This also occurs on the molybdenum foil circular precision pinholes, which have a low-reflectance absorptive polymer coating on the front and the molybdenum foil is left bare on the back.

Apertures Selection Guide
Aperture Type Representative Image
(Click to Enlarge)
Description Aperture Sizes Available from Stocka
Single Precision Pinholesa
Circular Pinholes in Stainless Steel Foils Ø1 µm to Ø9 mm
Circular Pinholes in Stainless Steel Foils,
Vacuum Compatible
Ø5 µm to Ø2 mm
Circular Pinholes in Gold-Plated Copper Foils Ø5 µm to Ø2 mm
Circular Pinholes in Gold-Plated Copper Foils
with High-Power Housings
Ø5 µm to Ø500 µm
Circular Pinholes in Tungsten Foils Ø5 µm to Ø2 mm
Circular Pinholes in Molybdenum Foils Ø5 µm to Ø2 mm
Square Pinholes in Stainless Steel Foils 100 to 1000 µm Square
Slitsa Slits in Stainless Steel Foils 3 mm Slit Lengths: 5 to 500 µm Widths
10 mm Slit Lengths: 20 to 500 µm Widths
Double Slits in Stainless Steel Foils 3 mm Slit Lengths with 40, 50, or 100 µm Widths,
Spacing of 3X or 6X the Slit Width
Half-Apertures Mounted, Half-Aperture Foils Half-Apertures for Knife-Edge Scan Measurements
Annular Apertures Annular Aperture Obstruction Targets on
Quartz Substrates with Chrome Masks
Ø1 mm Apertures with ε Ratiosb from 0.05 to 0.85
Ø2 mm Aperture with ε Ratiob of 0.85
Pinhole Wheels Manual, Mounted, Chrome-Plated Fused Silica Disks
with Lithographically Etched Pinholes
Each Disk has 16 Pinholes from Ø25 µm to Ø2 mm and
Four Annular Apertures (Ø100 µm Hole, 50 µm Obstruction)
Motorized Pinhole Wheels with Chrome-Plated Glass Disks
with Lithographically Etched Pinholes
Each Disk has 16 Pinholes from Ø25 µm to Ø2 mm and
Four Annular Apertures (Ø100 µm Hole, 50 µm Obstruction)
Pinhole Kits Stainless Steel Precision Pinhole Kits Kits of Ten Circular Pinholes in Stainless
Steel Foils Covering Ø5 µm to Ø9 mm
  • Precision pinholes and slits can be special ordered with different aperture sizes, foil materials, shapes, and hole distributions than those offered from stock. Please contact Tech Support with inquiries.
  • Ratio of the Obstruction Diameter to the Pinhole Diameter

Posted Comments:
No Comments Posted
Back to Top

Mounted Half-Aperture Foils for Knife-Edge Scans

Based on your currency / country selection, your order will ship from Newton, New Jersey  
+1 Qty Docs Part Number - Universal Price Available
KEMK Support Documentation
KEMKØ1" Mounted Half-Aperture Foil, Stainless Steel
$78.00
Today
KEMCB Support Documentation
KEMCBØ1" Mounted Half-Aperture Foil, Gold-Plated Copper
$134.00
Today
KEMW Support Documentation
KEMWØ1" Mounted Half-Aperture Foil, Tungsten
$124.00
Today