Beam Splitters are used to split the laser beam into two (or more) separate beams. Each beam will have a percentage of the total laser power (for example, a 100 watt laser can be split into two 50 watt beams). These allow a single laser to be delivered to two workstations simultaneously, or to process more than one part (or two locations on a single part) at the same time. This is also known as energy-sharing. Beam Combiners allow a second light source, such as a diode or a camera, to be introduced co-axially with the laser beam. Beam Splitters and Beam Combiners employ the same basic hardware (a splitter block) with the difference appearing in the form of the optic or optical coating to achieve the desired effect.
