Note: A simple laser shutter with protective shielding for beam powers up to 1 W

We present the design of an inexpensive and reliable mechanical laser shutter and its electronic driver. A camera diaphragm shutter unit with several sets of blades is utilized to provide fast blocking of laser light and protective shielding of the shutter mechanism up to a laser beam power of 1 W....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2018-12, Vol.89 (12), p.126102-126102
Main Authors: Colquhoun, Craig D., Di Carli, Andrea, Kuhr, Stefan, Haller, Elmar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blades
Laser beams
Lasers
Microcontrollers
Scientific apparatus & instruments
Shielding
Timing jitter
Vibration
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Summary:We present the design of an inexpensive and reliable mechanical laser shutter and its electronic driver. A camera diaphragm shutter unit with several sets of blades is utilized to provide fast blocking of laser light and protective shielding of the shutter mechanism up to a laser beam power of 1 W. The driver unit is based on an Arduino microcontroller with a motor-shield. Our objective was to strongly reduce construction effort and expenditure by limiting ourselves to a small number of modular parts, which are readily available. We measured opening and closing durations of less than 800 μs, and a timing jitter of less than 25 μs for the fastest set of blades. No degradation of the shutter performance was observed over 5·104 cycles.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.5053212