Lasers in this new decade are much more industrial than scientific. Lasers help produce many of the products consumers take for granted. This is especially the case with computers, smart phones, and cars but of course lasers touch many parts of other products we use every day. A laser is a tool no different than any other mechanical machine tool. The only difference is how the tool is measured. A mechanical tool can obviously be measured with a micrometer or calliper, but a laser needs a power or energy meter and an M-square measurement device to measure its size and performance. Power meter measurements are straight forward and well understood. M-square measurements have been less so. Most lasers are measured by the manufacturer in a "free space" condition. This is how it has been done for more than two decades. Given the large number of lasers in production, it is important to be able to measure these tools in the application for which they are being used. The time has come for M-square measurement to leave the "Scientific" realm and enter the "Industrial" realm so that the performance of production lasers can be quantified in their production space. This work covers the finite number of application specific M-square measurement techniques for industrial lasers which include fiber only; collimated, free space beam; post focus and pre-focus applications.
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