BeamSquared® Readme
Version 2.6.0

Contents
Section 1 - Change log
Section 2 - Errata and Workarounds
Section 3 – Application Notes

Section 1 - Change log
v2.6.0 11/1/2023
Added BeamSquared Motion Utility application.
This utility allows standalone computer control of the BeamSquared
motion system. Only the Motion Utility or the BeamSquared
application may control the motion hardware at one time.
Changed the Aperture to use the same enhanced Auto Aperture algorithm
as used in BeamGage.
Added Support for Windows 11 64 bit.
Added support for camera SP204.
Added ability to change camera exposure in the Automation Interface.
Added a warning if the table setting have been reset to default values.
Fixed an issue where Ultracal background subtraction could be disabled
when hardware triggering certain model cameras.
v2.5.2 12/20/2019
Returned the IARailControl.Position automation property to previousfunctionality.
Added the IARailControl.PositionSet automation property to support
manual mode runs with custom rail hardware.
v2.5.1 11/20/2019
Fixed a critical issue introduced in v2.5 where the physical offset of thecamera mount was applied twice to all z-Location values and resulting
mirror stage movements.
We recommend all users of v2.5 discontinue its use immediately anddiscard all copies of the v2.5 software installation.
The resulting error affects all data collected and saved in v2.5 causing
errors in the following results:
Laser Results : Divergence, Waist Width, Waist Location, RayleighLength, Astigmatism, and Asymmetry
After Lens Results: Waist Location
This release will automatically identify and compensate for this error inall bsqData files which were saved in v2.5. Loading a v2.5 data file andthen manually saving the data again will update the data file to nolonger be affected.
Added the following features to the automation interface to support
automation of BeamSquared runs in Manual Mode.
UltracalVerifier (interface via AutomatedBeamSquared)
AutomationUltracalVerifierEvents OnStatusChange event
AUltracalVerifierStatus enumeration
Fixed the RailControl.Position property in the automation interface toproperly allow setting of the current position of an external rail for ManualMode.
v2.5 8/15/2019
Calibration settings for the connected BeamSquared device can now beviewed in the Table Info section of the Table tab.
Calibration settings for the currently inserted lens can now be viewed in
the Lens Info section of the Table tab.
Calibration settings for the BeamSquared device and currently inserted
lens are now stored with collected data and can be viewed as results byenabling them via the "Hardware Settings" group in the Results window.
Raw frame data can now be stored as an encoded and compressed TIFF
image inside the '.bsqdata'. The data is stored using the Gray32Float pixel
format.
The enhanced auto aperture introduced in BeamGage 6.15.1 is now used
when measuring beam widths during a run, improving detection of small
beams.
Automatic outlier removal can now be toggled from the Measured Caustic
Display toolbar. This setting persists with data and is non-destructive.
A new automatic ISO setup is now available within the run setup wizard
that will attempt to create a run configuration that will produce an ISO
result.
The Reports/Logging tab has been renamed to Data in order to beconsistent with other products. Both logging and data export are now
available in the Data tab.
Fixed an issue that caused a data server to keep running and crash whenreloading the application.
Improved the reliability of frame collection from the XC-130 InGaAscamera.
Fixed an issue that caused the application to crash when the temp
directory had too many files.
Statistics have been re-added to exported reports.
Results no longer change when viewing a completed, unsaved run andeither disconnecting from, or removing the lens from a connected device.
Improved the BeamSquared inititalization process to not change calibrated
settings in the event of a failure to verify existing settings.
Improved the reliability of the PDF report export capability, reducing thepossibility of a crash.
v2.4.2 08/03/2018
Maintenance release to correct application crash when changing Beam
Width Basis through either user interface or automation.
Added a section in the User Guide to explain how to deal with “ghostbeams” during setup and alignment.
v2.4.1 05/25/2018
Maintenance release to correct inability to license for PyroCam demo units.
Removed the 10ms lower exposure limit on SP300 and SP920 cameras.
v2.4 04/25/2018
Upgraded FlyCap camera driver to 2.12.2
v2.3.1 3/30/2018
Fixing stability issue.
v2.3 02/27/2018
Added detection of general astigmatic (twisted) beams. New Twist result is
added and available through automation.
Corrected Positional Stability calculations.
Added SP-920 camera for reduced blooming in NIR wavelengths.
Added Smearing Correction option in setup options. Corrects for camera

smearing artifacts in the beam image in the NIR wavelengths. This setting
is also available through the automation interface.
v2.2.1 12/08/2017
Adding support for the SP920.
v2.2 09/13/2017
Upgraded PGR drivers to 11.164
Upgraded Pleora drivers to 4.1.7.3988
Added Pointing Stability Window and corresponding results
Gain control removed
Exposure for SP300 is limited to 10 – 400 ms to reduce smearing anduncertainty in the M2 measurements.
BeamSquared installation is not allowed if M2-200s is on the machine.
Attenuation algorithm improved to prevent continuous adjusting.
v2.1 4/24/2017
New step table measurement method allows for customer selectablemeasurement positions
New 3D slice display
New Automation interface to support automating a BeamSquared unit
New caustic chart added to report
3D display added to report
Hidden result groups no longer show up in the report
Improved caustic display to be more readable
Result ordering changed within groups to bring most important results tothe top
Fixed issue where the attenuation would continuously be increased anddecreased unnecessarily
Real time mode is stopped if the user changes the rail position or theattenuation
Fixed issue where some UI controls were disappearing
Improved Ultracal check to properly detect when an Ultracal is required
Abort/Finish buttons added to the Run ribbon bar and Live Playback/Start
Run buttons added to the quick access bar for more convenient access.
Improved Ultracal verification algorithm to better ensure goodmeasurements

v2.0 12/23/2016
Added support for BeamSquared automated hardware unit
Added support for SP300 and Xeva XC-130 cameras
Now calculates statistics from multiple runs
Added real time mode to calculate M2 using the width at the focal length
data can now be logged during runs (including statistics from multipleruns)Data can be exported after a run has completed
The cursor was changed to stick when manually moved (unless in a run).
When in a run, it still moves to the centroid.
User can now select to display results in scientific notation or not.
New Logo
The default screen layout was changed
Default theme colors changed
Improved startup time and progress is shown on splash screen whenstarting
Camera Information (pixel pitch, bit depth, and frame size) added to results
Option added to ignore misaligned beam in a frame
Report improvements including statistics from multiple runs
v1.0 03/18/2016
Initial Release

Section 2 - Errata and Workarounds
We're working hard to find and eliminate all the bugs in this software product.
However, as of this release we still have a few bugs for which we have not foundcomplete solutions. The following list details these bugs and offers recovery andwork-around methods:
No known blocking issues at the time of this release.

Section 3 - Application Notes
Supported Operating Systems
Windows 10 (64-bit)

Windows 11 (64-bit)

Documentation
A PDF version of the Operator's Manual is included with the installation. You musthave a PDF reader installed (such as Adobe Acrobat Reader) in order to view thisfile.

Installation
It is recommended that all users are fully updated to the latest WindowsUpdates. If all updates are not applied to your system this may cause problems
with BeamSquared. Of particular note is .NET Framework 4.5, which is requiredfor BeamSquared to run. If not installed on the system already, then it will be
installed prior to the installation of BeamSquared. This update is included aspart of Windows 10.
To install BeamSquared software you must have Administrative privileges.
For maximum performance a dedicated video card is recommended over onmotherboard video outputs.

Troubleshooting and Reporting Bugs
If you suspect you have found a bug in our software please help us identify it bysending the following information to service.ophir.usa@mksinst.com.
1. A description of the actions that reproduce the problem.
2. The .bsqSetup or .bsqData file you were using at the time.
3. All files (if any) in the directory C:\ProgramData\Spiricon\BeamSquared\Logs.
4. All files (if any) in the directory C:\ProgramData\Spiricon\DataServer\Logs.
The more information you can provide, the more likely we can reproduce it in ourlab, and fix it.
* Ophir, BeamSquared, and other products and software produced by MKS
Instruments, Inc. or one of its affiliates are trademarks of MKS Instruments or its
respective affiliates. The trademarks, trade names and service marks of othercompanies appearing within the software and documentation are the property of
their respective owners.