A novel approach towards analysis of 2-dimensional spatial intensity profile of laser beams

Using a 1-D photodiode array in place of a conventional 2-D array for capturing the spatial intensity profile of a laser beam yields a 2-D profile instead of a highly detailed 3-D profile; nonetheless it also reduces the cost and computational requirements substantially. We have developed one such low cost prototype hardware-software package and demonstrated that many features, such as ultra portability, can be included if a highly detailed 3-D profile is not absolutely necessary. In this paper, we present an elementary description of the instrument developed and discuss some of its experimental outputs.