What is the relationship between Peak Power and Average Power?
Average power is computed by multiplying the device’s peak power by the pulse frequency and the pulse duration. Since continuous wave units are not pulsed, the pulse duration and the pulse frequency are both equal to 1 and thus the unit’s average power. Some manufacturers of continuous wave devices have chopped the output to create a pulsing effect. It is important to note that in continuous wave units with a fixed 50/50 duty cycle that the average power of the laser system is reduced to ½. In a true pulsed laser system, increasing the frequency, increases the number of super pulses and hence, increases the average power output. The peak power of a continuous wave device is typically measured in milliwatts whereas in a true pulsed laser the peak power is measured in watts or thousands of milliwatts.
