Editing Beam diameter (section)

=== Fusing knife-edge method with imaging ===
The main drawback of the knife-edge technique is that the measured value is displayed only on the scanning direction, minimizing the amount of relevant beam information. To overcome this drawback, an innovative technology offered commercially allows multiple directions beam scanning to create an image like beam representation.<ref>Aharon. "[http://www.novuslight.com/laser-beam-profiling-and-measurement_N678.html Laser Beam Profiling and Measurement]"</ref>

By mechanically moving the knife edge across the beam, the amount of energy impinging the detector area is determined by the obstruction.  The profile is then measured from the knife-edge velocity and its relation to the detector's energy reading. Unlike other systems, a unique scanning technique uses several different oriented knife-edges to sweep across the beam. By using [[tomographic reconstruction]], mathematical processes reconstruct the laser beam size in different orientations to an image similar to the one produced by CCD cameras. The main advantage of this scanning method is that it is free from pixel size limitations (as in CCD cameras) and allows beam reconstructions with wavelengths not usable with existing CCD technology. Reconstruction is possible for beams in deep UV to far IR.