A cylindrical lens focuses a beam into a line whose intensity follows the beam's Gaussian profile — hot centre, fading ends.
Powell lenses stand in the manufacturer's headline product range and in its prism catalogue under the Powell form. The specification language is a fan: the lens is chosen by its fan angle, the angular spread that, at the working distance, draws the line length. Input beam diameter belongs in the enquiry alongside the fan angle: state the diameter you will feed the lens. In the manufacturer's prism catalogue the Powell form is listed among the prism types, with right angle, penta, roof, Porro and dove forms named in the same list.
Specifying a Powell Lens
- Fan angle — the spread that sets line length at your working distance.
- Input beam diameter — state the diameter you will feed the lens in the enquiry.
- Wavelength — the design wavelength of the laser line source.
- Working distance and line length — the pair that confirms the fan angle choice.
If the application tolerates a Gaussian line — simple alignment, pointer duties — the cylindrical lens is the alternative documented in the same catalogue. State the fan angle and beam diameter in the first message, so the form can be confirmed against them in the quotation. Powell lens pricing and minimums are confirmed per specification in the written quotation. In the manufacturer's headline product range the Powell lens is listed alongside optical lenses, windows, prisms, filters, mirrors, field lenses, reticles, IPL filters and Fresnel lenses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Powell or cylindrical for a laser line?
State the line profile your application needs in the first message, so the form can be confirmed against it in the quotation.
What is fan angle?
The angular spread of the generated line. At a given working distance, fan angle and line length are the same decision stated two ways.
Why does input beam diameter matter?
The input diameter is a specification field: state it in the enquiry with the fan angle.
Line Length, Working Distance and the Fan-Angle Arithmetic
The fan-angle choice repays thirty seconds of arithmetic before the enquiry, because fan angle, working distance and line length are one fact in three costumes. The line length grows with the tangent of half the fan angle times twice the working distance, so at a fixed working distance the fan angle is the line length — and a lens bought for a generous fan angle 'to be safe' draws a line longer than the target, spreading the same laser power over more length and dimming every millimetre of it. The disciplined specification works backwards: target line length and working distance first, fan angle derived, input beam diameter stated. The input diameter belongs in the same first message: state it alongside the target line length and the working distance rather than leave it to be assumed. Vision-system buyers should add the camera's field and the line's required straightness across it, because at wide fan angles the line's ends live at a different geometry than its centre, and the system design has to know.
Request a Quotation
Tell us the component, material, dimensions and coating you need. Pricing and lead time for your specification are confirmed in the written quotation.