Improve accuracy of laser beam width measurement using a genetic algorithm

Beam width measurements of laser beams based on CCD by the second moment method as proposed by International Standardization Organization, are excessively sensitive to the noise far from light beam center. A novel method of noise elimination based on the analysis of the influence from CCD noise on laser beam width measurement result is proposed. The appropriate integral region could be obtained by genetic algorithm to improve accuracy of laser beam width measurement. The experimental results show that method could tolerate heavy CCD noise, and define the corresponding integral region according to requested precision.