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Hewlett-Packard 5500A Helium-Neon Laser (Gallery)
HP (now Agilent) manufactures what is called a "Two-Frequency HeNe Laser"
for use in their interferometry based measurement and calibration systems.
There are several versions of these lasers including the 5500C, 5501A,
5501B, 5517A/B/C/D/E/F/G, 5518A, and 5519A (all shown below).
The 5500A was the first such laser and the only one to ever include
interferometer optics and an optical receiver inside the laser head.
(There was also a 5500B, but it appears to be nearly identical to the 5500A.)
The 5500A is generally similar to the 5500C in construction and is in the
same case, but the laser tube is subtly different being the only one
where the waste beam out the rear is used for locking.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front closeup view. The laser beam exits the top hole
while the return beam enters the bottom hole. The front ring may be
rotated 90 degrees to use the small "alignment spertures". The
back ring may be rotated 90 degrees in insert a polarizing beam-splitter
into the receiver aperture to entirely block the unwanted F1 frequency
component (I think!).
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back closeup view. The connector is for the 5525A
Measurement Display.
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View 05 - Left front interior view. The aluminum box is a shield
(and protection) for the photodiodes and preamps associated with the
REF and MEAS signals. Buried inside are the interferometer optics
which include a pair of beamsplitters and cube-corner.
The small green PCB has the drive transistors for either the HeNe laser
power supply or PZT inverters (not sure which). The other set is
buried under the tube. The inverter transformers and high voltage
components are in metal-enclosed assemblies (possibly potted) under
the HeNe laser tube. The fat red wire comes from the smaller metal
can and goes to the PZT terminal at the back of the tube.
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View 06 - Right back interior view. The HeNe laser tube can be seen
with its output beam expander pointing through the hole in the aluminum
optics/electronics enclosure. In this very early implementation, the
waveplates are mounted separately external to the tube assembly. The
fat red wire going to the tube assembly is for the anode via
the vertially mounted ballast resistor. The brown wire is
the cathode.
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View 07 - Left side interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view.
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View 09 - Closeup view of run time (hour meter).
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Hewlett-Packard 5500C Helium-Neon Laser (Gallery)
The 5500C was the second earliest of HP's interferometry lasers. The
5500A, above, is physically similar but had built-in interferometer
optics and a very slightly different tube. (There was also a 5500B,
but it appears to be essentially the same as the 5500A.)
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front closeup view. The center hole is the laser out
aperture. The "A" and "B" refer to the optical receiver channels so
that a pair of measurement axes may be handled by the 5500C.
Rotating the aperture wheel by 90 degrees enables the holes
above or below to be used for the return beam.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back closeup view. The wiring of the two connectors
is not quite identical. When a single 5505A is used (single axis), it
should be plugged into the right-hand (A) connector.
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View 05 - Left front interior view. The aluminum box is a shield
(and protection) for the three electronics boards for the beam sampler
photodiodes and optical receivers. The large green PCB has the drive
circuitry for the HeNe laser power supply and PZT inverters in this early
sample of the 5500C. The inverter transformers and high voltage
components are in metal-enclosed assemblies (possibly potted) under
the HeNe laser tube. Later versions have this circuitry inside fully potted
under the HeNe laser tube with the large green PCB in those lasers only being
used for interconnects.
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View 06 - Right back interior view. The HeNe laser tube can be seen
with its output beam expander pointing through the hole in the aluminum
optics/electronics enclosure. The fat red wire going to the tube assembly
from the larger metal-cased HeNe laser power supply module is the anode
with a ballast resistor in-line hidden underneath. The purple wire is
the cathode. The shorter fat red wire from the smaller metal-cased PZT
module goes to the PZT terminal at the back of the laser tube (hidden).
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View 07 - Closeup of tube output and electronics. The PCB closest
to the beam expander is the preamp for the beam sampler photodiodes.
The PCB on the side is for the optical receivers. There is a similar PCB is
on the other side of the laser.
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View 08 - Closeup of two (of three) electronics PCBs.
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View 09 - Closeup of the four optical receiver photodiodes (behind
lenses).
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Hewlett-Packard 5501A Helium-Neon Laser (Gallery)
Here are two view of the tube itself:
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View 09 - Overall view of strange HeNe tube.
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View 10 - End-view showing piezo electrode terminal.
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Hewlett-Packard 5501B Helium-Neon Laser (Gallery)
The HP-5501B is a functional replacement for the 5501A but uses a different
HeNe laser tube with thermal instead of PZT tuning, and thus different
electronics. The tube is physically similar to the one in the HP-5517
lasers and other later model HP/Agilent lasers.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Right back interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing control PCB.
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Hewlett-Packard 5517A Helium-Neon Laser Head and Accessories (Gallery)
The 5517A was the first of the 5517 series of HP (and later, Agilent)
metrology lasers. As of 2010, it is still orderable and supported.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Back right interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing the Type I Control PCB.
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Hewlett Packard 5517D Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The 5517D has the highest REF/split frequency and thus highest performance
of any of the "standard" HP/Agilent lasers. But the only physical difference
compared to the 5517B and 5517C is the Zeeman HeNe laser tube; everything
else is identical. Thus, except for the tube part number and labels on the
case, these photos apply to the HP-5517B and HP-5517C as well.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Back right interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing the Type I Control PCB.
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Agilent 5517B Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The Agilent 5517B is typical of all the Agilent 5517 lasers made after
2002 or 2003. These include the 5517B, 5517C, and 5517D. They require
external interferometer optics and an optical receiver for each axis.
These have the Type II Control PCB. The cover shown is the flimsy
sheet-metal shroud used on OEM lasers, but they are otherwise identical
to the end-user slightly more spiffy covers. Some (e.g., 5517DL) have
a vented cover (shroud or spif) but are otherwise identical.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Right back interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing Type II Control PCB.
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Agilent 5517C Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The only real difference for the 5517C photogenically, is the color of the
front and back plates. :)
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Back right interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing Type II Control PCB.
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Agilent 5517D Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The 5517D is the highest performance "standard" HP (as well as Agilent)
metrology laser. Photogenically, it is identical to the 5517B and 5517C
except possibly for the color of the front and back plates. :) This
particular sample has the Type III Control PCB, but that may
have been an option for a particular customer requirement. There's no
reason why the Type II Control PCB, or even the original Type I
Control PCB can't be used with the 5517D.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Back right interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing Type III Control PCB.
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Agilent 5517E Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The HP/Agilent 5517E is not documented anywhere in the Universe except
Sam's Laser FAQ! The only only significant visible difference compared
to the 5517B/C/D is a slightly shorter HeNe laser tube assembly.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Right back interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing Type III Control PCB.
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Agilent 5517F Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The only reference to the HP/Agilent 5517F (actually the FL in this case)
is in the Agilent Laser and Optics Manual, but it doesn't appear on the
Agilent Web site separately. The 5517F/FL is almost identical to the
5517E.
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View 01 - Left front view.
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View 02 - Front plate view.
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View 03 - Right back view.
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View 04 - Back plate view.
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View 05 - Left front interior view.
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View 06 - Left side interior view showing Zeeman HeNe laser tube
assembly.
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View 07 - Right back interior view.
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View 08 - Right side interior view showing Type III Digital Control PCB.
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Hewlett-Packard 5518A Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The HP/Agilent 5518A laser is very similar to the 5517A in terms
of case style, but include an optical receiver for the return beam from an
interferometer. This allows the 5518A to be used stand-alone without any
other optical receiver, only the measurement electronics and DC power
supply. A 5517A can be converted into a 5518A by adding the optical
receiver PCB and replacing the turret/aperture wheel.
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View 01 - Front view.
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View 02 - Back view.
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View 03 - Front view with cover removed.
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View 04 - Back view with cover removed.
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View 05 - Right side view showing Control PCB.
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View 06 - Left side view showing DC and HeNe laser power supplies.
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Hewlett-Packard 5519 Helium-Neon Laser Head (Gallery)
The HP/Agilent 5519A and 5519B lasers are very similar to the 5517A in terms
of case style, but like the 5518A, include an optical receiver for the return
beam from an interferometer. This allows the 5519A/B to be used stand-alone
without any other optical receiver, only the measurement electronics. In
fact, the 5519A/B are the only of these lasers to include a DC power supply
internal to the laser head so they plug into a normal AC outlet instead of
requiring a separate DC power supply.
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View 01 - Front view.
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View 02 - Back view.
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View 03 - Front view with cover removed.
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View 04 - Back view with cover removed.
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View 05 - Right side view showing Control PCB.
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View 06 - Left side view showing DC and HeNe laser power supplies.
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View 07 - Top view.
