Review of the LaserCentury 150mW DPSS green (GL532T-150)

I obtained a LaserCentury 150mW TEC cooled 532nm green laser module...

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/greenie3.jpg

Boys'n girls... if you want a solid green with no compromises on
optical quality, this is the laser you've been waiting for...

Code:

---

Manufacturer Specifications:

Model Number:          GL532T-XXX
Output Power:          150mW
Output Wavelength:      532nm
Beam Mode:              TEM00, CW
Power Stability(RMS):  5% (over 2 hours)
Beam Divergence&#58;        <1.5mrad
Beam Diameter&#58;          <1.0mm
Warm Up time&#58;          <5 minutes
Directional stability&#58;  <0.05mrd &#40;after warm up&#41;
Ellipticity&#58;            >90%
Output noise&#40;RMS&#41;&#58;      20% around 50~200KHz
Beam width&#58;            0.1nm
Operating Temperature&#58;  5 ~ 35 degrees
Modulation&#58;            >10KHz, TTL Mode &#40;as tested, analog and no mod. avail.&#41;
Manufacturer MTBF&#58;      >10000 hours
Dimensions &#40;Laser&#41;&#58;    1.5" x 1.5" x 4" &#40;at base&#41;
Dimensions &#40;Driver&#41;&#58;    3" x 1.5" x 7"
Operating voltage&#58;      120VAC &#40;as tested, other options available&#41;

---

First, let me state... I've been spoiled by the beam quality of large gas ion lasers.
I've been less than impressed by most diode lasers I've seen, even the scientific units
from Coherent and Spectra...

Well this little module successfully forced me to re-evaluate my opinions on
diode based laser technology, and did it at a surprisingly low cost!

Power Levels

This laser didn't dissappoint in the power category...

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/IMG_1458.jpg
177mW of true 532nm green!

Now, one of the things the modern laserist needs to be aware of is that once a laser
enters the Class IIIb range, manufacturers don't usually bother filtering out the
"waste" IR beams. This is because the CDRH doesn't "care" as long as the
class designation is accurate in defining the total power output (i.e. >5 - <500mW for Class IIIb).

The second thing is that often, more than half the total power output of a filterless
DPSS module is in the invisible IR range!

The last is that is that vendors will include any invisible IR "waste" beam present in
their rated power levels... This isn't inherently "wrong" because that total number is
very important for eye safety considerations. What I do find less than ethical is that
many new manufacturers are specifically leaving the IR filter off soley so they
can claim higher power levels for marketting. That 200mW DPSS laser you bought off ebay
may in fact only generate 80mW of usable green with the rest in IR!

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/ir.jpg

So, I was very pleasantly surprised to find an IR filter on this unit! Checking with
an external IR bounce mirror confirmed that the onboard filter was working as designed.

Beam Quality

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/IMG_1459.jpg

The laser didn't dissappoint in this category either... The beam diameter is the smallest
I've seen in a laser of this price level... the divergence is so low that the beam was
still point sized over 30 feet!

Mechanical details

Internals: This head is TEC cooled and maintains extraordinary stability for
this class.

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/details.jpg

Laser Head: This is where the cost savings start to show... While the head
is build solidly, the annodization (the coloration) is amateurish and may show
premature wear over usage... The first hint was that close examination
shows the black anno to be more of a hue of green... Running a swipe
of denatured alchohol over the base confirmed that the anno die wasn't
properly sealed... Aside from the cosmetic detail, the laser head had a
satisfying heft and was well built to very tight tolerances...

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/greenie1.jpg
The dimensions of the head are 1.5" x 1.5" x 4"

Power Supply: The power supply is well designed but definitely
could use a few improvements... Most notably missing is a key switch.
For entertainment purposes, this means that in order to meet CDRH
requirements, the end projector must integrate a keyswitch and
power on delay itself... The other thing I noticed is that the modulation input
feels like a tacked on design feature rather than an integral portion
of the supply. The input is presented as a loose wire... I would have preferred
to see a BNC jack or something similar... I may not have noticed, but
it the modulation input was just too much of a stark contrast to the very
nice and well designed connector which attaches the head to the unit.

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/greenie2.jpg
The dimensions of the power supply is 3" x 1.5" x 7"

Modulation
The unit supports TTL modulation at nominally faster than 10Khz,
Some quick patterns show that it works just fine...

http://photonlexicon.com/albums/albu...1502.sized.jpg
Mounted in a conveniently spare scanhead system designed by ArcDevilz.

What this all means

This laser is a steal at any cost...

Reality check
Words are good, but what does it look like doing a beam show in real life?
http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album30/Show1.jpg
http://photonlexicon.com/hostedcontent/sloc/Show1.avi [10MB MMJPEG AVI]

This clip was taken in my garage with the garage door open in broad daylight with the light streaming in!

More images available at: http://photonlexicon.com/gallery/album30

Fin.

I can't believe how sexy and tight it fit into that case. My favorite was the video in daylight with a little haze. Okay when do I get mine?

8)

Excellent, do you have a link to them please?

Hi Quazar,

I bought mine off Spec for $550... I still drool when I think about it :)
It makes the thinnest ribbons of light... drool... :)

Anyways, he may have some left.

Good luck!

Ive got more now ;) First come first serve.

Man..These are AWESOME lasers.. :D :shock: :D

Much better than the first batch of those others...
I had to get one of these just like I did with those others..
I can say for a fact these are much better assembled and more thought went into these..

Also..a big PLUS is..THEY HAVE A DECENT IR FILTER
did you guys catch that..yes.. from china too.

And this filter wont blow out from the power too...
Mine currently is a 225mW unit ... Very Stable once up to Temp.

Very nice Blanker..and a smart one at that... It knows when its connected to the circuit.. And it seems to blank way up past 40khz..

I do suggest mounting on a plate.. so the TEC wont hafta work too hard when used in a warm enviroment..

I Love this thing,.. Damn brite for the power too..

This cat CANT get enough of it!!!
{http://photonlexicon.com/albums/album03/laserjump.gif


*^_^*

We had one of these die a couple of days ago.

Upon pulling the psu to bits, a somewhat scorched bug was removed from under the pcb!!

Looks like all thats cooked is the switch mode controller/chopper, but that raises the problem of getting spare parts down here in Australia.. Hopefully Laser Century will come to the rescue here, Otherwise im faced with purcasing a 2 dollar part from mouser, with 35 dollars shipping :roll:

[edit] Laser centuary to the rescue, parts in the mail :D

your cat ? how lovely! is it reaching the beam of pointer ? I can't see clearly .but his ability of jumping is marvelous , but I am worried , some times , like the big cat usuarally don't like playing any more , but it is diffrent , how lovely . I have joked my dog with the laser pointer , he really following the light beam everywhere . haha, so crasy ! :lol:

old thread ;) but yea... I reallyh love that cat..

The jumping skills is crazy :)
Really funny to see when the cat land as well..

yes, I see the fat cat mimi , but to my surprise , it can jump so high and so flexible . haha, I love animals , I also use the method to play with my dog . he trully going everywhere following the beam of laser pointer , at first he is curious to see it , when I put the laser pointer near him, he is so afraid of it, and run, but he will following the out put beam go everywhere . so lovely . :lol: