This paper presents an implementation of a laser beam shaping system for both heating a diamond tool and measuring the resulting temperature optically. The influence the initial laser parameters have on the resultant temperature profiles is shown experimentally and theoretically. A CO₂ laser beam was used as the source to raise the temperature of the diamond tool and the resultant temperature was measured by using the blackbody principle. We have successfully transformed a Gaussian beam profile into a flat-top beam profile by using a diffractive optical element as a phase element in conjunction with a Fourier transforming lens. In this paper, we have successfully demonstrated temperature profiles across the diamond tool surface using two laser beam profiles and two optical setups, thus allowing a study of temperature influences with and without thermal stress. The generation of such temperature profiles on the diamond tool in the laboratory is important in the study of changes that occur in diamond tools, particularly the reduced efficiency of such tools in applications where extreme heating due to friction is expected.

Date Published: 21 September 2011
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 8130, Laser Beam Shaping XII, 81300H (21 September 2011); doi: 10.1117/12.898514

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8130:
Laser Beam Shaping XII
Andrew Forbes; Todd E. Lizotte, Editor(s)