Abstract
A technique for measuring the 2D energy distribution of laser beams of a wide variety of sizes is described. A thermal imager is used to view the temperature distribution produced on a target when irradiated by a laser. It has many advantages over existing methods and in the case of low energy density expanded beams is the only practical way of profiling. The technique is applicable to the measurement of pulsed and CW lasers over a wide range of wavelengths.