Diffractive Laser Line Generators

Laser line generators produce highly uniform laser lines, making them particularly well-suited for machine vision applications. There are various methods to convert a Gaussian beam into a line pattern, such as Powell lenses, simple cylindrical lenses, cylindrical lens arrays, and —last but not least, diffractive optical elements (DOEs). 

Compared to line patterns generated by Powell lenses, the diffractive approach offers several advantages. 

1. First, the uniformity of the diffractive method is insensitive to the incident beam size. By contrast, the line uniformity of Powell lenses is highly sensitive to the incident beam size. Even with the most advanced laser diodes, the output beam size often lacks consistency, leading to suboptimal line uniformity and a low yield rate. 

2. Second, due to their single period, Powell lenses require lateral alignment during assembly. In contrast, DOEs feature multiple periods, eliminating the need for lateral alignment. This simplifies the assembly process and reduces costs. 

To meet diverse application needs, we provide a wide variety of standard line pattern DOEs, with fan angles ranging from 1° to 90° and wavelengths ranging from 450 nm to 950 nm.