The power meter for measuring the performance of optical radiation, in particular laser radiation

摘要

The invention concerns an instrument for measuring the power of optical radiation (9), in particular laser radiation, the instrument having a tubular housing, holding several radiation-absorbing elements (3), plus a temperature sensor (4) with which the temperature increase produced by the absorded radiation is measured, this temperature increase being taken as a measure for determinig the radiant power. The aim of the invention is to design an instrument of this kind which is simple in construction and can be used to measure high radiant powers in the multi-kilowatt range without the need for water cooling. This aim is achieved by virtue of the fact that the radiation-absorbing elements are made up of several net-, honeycomb- or grid-type structures (3) which are fitted in the housing so that they are located at intervals from each other and at right angles to the direction of the radiation entering the housing. The housing is fitted with a fan (2) which draws air through the structures. Downstream of the structures is a temperature sensor (4) which measures the temperature of the heated air flowing through the structures, the sensor reading being displayed on an instrument (4a) either as the temperature difference relative to room temperature or directly as radiant power.