Product Code: ILSC2009_1504

Laser Hazard Assessment with an Eye Simulator
Authors:
Menachem Margaliot, Soreq NRC; - Israel
Arie Amitzi, Soreq NRC ; Yavne Israel
Presented at ILSC 2009

Optical radiation entering the eye is focused on the retina and produces a focal spot of relatively high energy/power density. The size of this focal spot is the critical factor in determining the hazard classification of an optical source.
For laser beams this focal spot is extremely small and hence - the high optical hazard of laser radiation.
Analyzing the hazard classification of laser product is commonly conducted by computational methods, assuming the laser source specifications as provided by the device manufacturer, are correct.
In the following we present an eye simulator consisting of a gradual index lens and a beam profiler and its application to the analysis of a laser beam defined by the manufacturer as a "diffused beam".
It is shown that the product assumed to produce a totally diffused beam, and hence to be non hazardous, remained partially non-diffused and had therefore to be classified as a 3B laser product.