Red diodes and collimators.

Hello All

I see there is a lot of interest in building red lasers from combining red diodes on this forum at the moment eg. with laserman532's nice kits, so i thought i would offer these nice diode modules for sale:

Attachment 13300

They are high quality red diodes, doing about 250mW at 654ish nm (a nice tradeoff wavelength for deep red and good visibility). They come including some very high quality collimators from Kevin Junktronix - note the almost perfectly round beam on the pics. The collimators are AR coated and consists of 3 optical glas elements, so nothing like the cheap plastic lenses from Aixiz.
I dont have datasheets on the diodes, but they have been tested for weeks at 250mw without power degrading. Still i would recommend setting them to 200mW after the optics, if you want to be sure that they live forever.

Each 'kit' will include:
- 1 diode mounted in 12x30mm aixiz tube with the high quality collimator and 1 foot (35cm) wires attached.
- PLUS one EXTRA unmounted diode, you can use for testing or as a spare.

They will come with leads shorted and will be shipped in antistatic packaging.
PRICE: €60 each + shipping. I have 30 pcs available - take them all and get them for €55 a pc.

Attachment 13301

Attachment 13304

Attachment 13302
(beam at 8 meters distance (and through a window))

Attachment 13299

Attachment 13303

Attachment 13298


Only selling these because i need to free up some money, because of a dpss deal that left me with a laser that was destroyed in shipping, a few weeks ago..

Paypal accepted..

Thanks,

Regards, Simon

60 euros is a bit much you can get the diodes cheap and the aixiz three element glass lens /and diode holders i could make >5 for that kind of money
i think you need to come down a bit on price :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by badger1666

60 euros is a bit much you can get the diodes cheap and the aixiz three element glass lens /and diode holders i could make >5 for that kind of money
i think you need to come down a bit on price :)

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Really ??
Aixiz dont sell these collimators, they only sell low quality stuff.. However they still charge $85 for a 100mw unit with their low quality optics..
http://cgi.ebay.com/650nm-100mW-lase...item588523c4d1

Where would you buy this stuff so cheap that you could make identical units for €12 a piece? - then i would be very interested to buy a whole bunch of them, and i am sure others would too..

in fact i could put them together for 10.4 euros raw costs that does not include shipping of the parts to me .
diodes from group buy @ 3.6 euros each ,12 x aixiz blanks 41 euros, 12x three element glass lens 41 euros
total for 12 x 250mw laser = 125 euros 10.4 euros each ;)
and aixiz do do the glass lens i expect that were junktronix gets them from
look here $5 each http://aixiz.com/store/index.php?cPa...40fca4508a1f33

I don't mean to be $hitting on your thread, but I agree with badger here...

http://www.daedallasers.com/optics/g...nk-module.html
http://www.daedallasers.com/blank-la...on-module.html
http://www.daedallasers.com/bare-red-laser-diode.html

That's $17.50 a piece, or ~12 euro before shipping... :rolleyes:

--DDL

i aslo agree with chris

diode £3, lens £4 from roithner, aixis housing £4

Hi Simon

Sorry, nothing to do with your lasers. However, could I ask what power supply you're using there?

I've just bought one of these http://cpc.farnell.com/caltek/psm3-5...30v/dp/IN05511 and i'm thinking it's not quite what I was expecting.

Cheers

Jem

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy_con

i aslo agree with chris

diode £3, lens £4 from roithner, aixis housing £4

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But what are the beam specs with these lenses, to build a quad setup a tiny beam is mendantory.

I have seen aixis glass lenses who gave a 4mm beam, combining these will give a 8x8 beam minumum, this will be pritty useless as you will loose half you power on the galvo mirrors.

The lenses I use give a beam of 1,2x2,2mm, combining these will give you a beam of 2,2mm in theory (2,5mm in real live due to combiner cube etc.) But those lenses are really expensive, so if you can find a cheaper lens with good beam specs i'm very interested.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mccarrot

But what are the beam specs with these lenses, to build a quad setup a tiny beam is mendantory.

I have seen aixis glass lenses who gave a 4mm beam, combining these will give a 8x8 beam minumum, this will be pritty useless as you will loose half you power on the galvo mirrors.

The lenses I use give a beam of 1,2x2,2mm, combining these will give you a beam of 2,2mm in theory (2,5mm in real live due to combiner cube etc.) But those lenses are really expensive, so if you can find a cheaper lens with good beam specs i'm very interested.

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well you can buy very good lens from roithner and they are £20 per lens

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy_con

well you can buy very good lens from roithner and they are £20 per lens

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Sure, but how good is very good?

the lenses I talked about can do 1,2x2,2mm x 0,6mRad

Do we have any measurements on those lenses?

I know the lens27 got a nice beam only 1,5 mRad.

i think lens27 are the once im refering to, but ive not got any to test

lens27 are a good alternative at a decent price/quality ratio

then, if you have some more bucks to put on that thing, go for some high quality short focal aspheric lenses at $82/piece from thorlabs

i built a multi red using the glass aixiz ended up with a 5x5mm beam
you could always overlap the beams a little and it wont make much of a difference to the output power
;)
theres certainly no need for an 8x8 beam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mccarrot

But what are the beam specs with these lenses, to build a quad setup a tiny beam is mendantory.

I have seen aixis glass lenses who gave a 4mm beam, combining these will give a 8x8 beam minumum, this will be pritty useless as you will loose half you power on the galvo mirrors.

The lenses I use give a beam of 1,2x2,2mm, combining these will give you a beam of 2,2mm in theory (2,5mm in real live due to combiner cube etc.) But those lenses are really expensive, so if you can find a cheaper lens with good beam specs i'm very interested.

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Hello Shrad,

i can offer this "magic" lenses complet with a collimator (dia. 11x12mm) for
just 39,- Euro :) We also have a version for 405nm / 445nm Dioden !
They work much better than any 3 lense design, the losses are very
small so that you get full power from the LD at rated current.

There wil be soon distributors in Europe and USA - more details will follow.

greetings,
marco

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shrad

lens27 are a good alternative at a decent price/quality ratio

then, if you have some more bucks to put on that thing, go for some high quality short focal aspheric lenses at $82/piece from thorlabs

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what are the dimensions of your diode barrels? it's interesting as I have two 642nm diodes waiting for a better collimation solution :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shrad

what are the dimensions of your diode barrels? it's interesting as I have two 642nm diodes waiting for a better collimation solution :)

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use aixiz mounts and lens 27'S i got an awesome beam from mine , and loose the pbs cube and knife edge the beam, and lighn up far field with a slight overlap and you will be sorted loook at mine ;)

yes, that would do the trick, but I have Pat's kit now, and I'll keep the design as it is :)

that way I'll have approximately a 2.5mm beam diameter, slightly cross-shaped but I don't care... I like the cube technique anyway

Hello Shrad,

they are made for 5,6mm diodes - normaly they will be pressed by a tool
to have good thermal contact, but you can also use some thermal conductive
glue. The is also a version with dia 11 x 16mm for a lense with longer focal length
wich can be usefull when combining a larger number of laserdiodes.
With these collimators the beamprofil will not be round, so you can use mirrors
to combine the single beams.
By they way - this is not some surplus stuff, they are made by us for some industrial
applications. Soon there will be some more collimators for other diodes and also some
smaller version.

greetings,
marco

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shrad

what are the dimensions of your diode barrels? it's interesting as I have two 642nm diodes waiting for a better collimation solution :)

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hi marco!

20mm diameter collimators would be the best for me, but I think you wouldn't make those :( I'll stick with my 18mm ones with a copper ring to avoid damaging the barrels with the retaining screw... the rings are ready to be bought, I already found some tube of correct diameter and so...

Hello shrad,

sorry, but 20mm is to large. We build this collimators for our industrial products, so they
are NOT surplus - at the moment there are two versions with dia11x12mm and dia 11x16mm
which could be used with different lenses with focal length of 4-8mm depending on the application.
Sonn there will be some more collimators, a smaller dia 8mm version and a larger advanced version
with non rotating lense and the option to mount the diode by a retaining ring.

The only option would be to make an adaptor with dia20mm and an 11mm bore.

greetings,
marco

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shrad

hi marco!

20mm diameter collimators would be the best for me, but I think you wouldn't make those :( I'll stick with my 18mm ones with a copper ring to avoid damaging the barrels with the retaining screw... the rings are ready to be bought, I already found some tube of correct diameter and so...

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Hi marco,

if you have the ability to do that easily, could you please draw me a quote by PM please?

thanks a lot!

Hi Marco,

With "magic" lenses do you refer to the Thorlabs or to the Lens27 ?
I think this is very interesting. Can a long open can 300mW red be used with your lenses ?
Currently i am thinking of building a quad red setup. Your lenses could be the perfect companion.
And what beamspecs can we expect. I like the beamspecs McCarrot posted. small with very, very low divergence.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marco

Hello Shrad,

i can offer this "magic" lenses complet with a collimator (dia. 11x12mm) for
just 35,- Euro :) We also have a version for 405nm / 445nm Dioden !
They work much better than any 3 lense design, the losses are very
small so that you get full power from the LD at rated current.

greetings,
marco

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With "Marco's diodes" and "Marco's lens", you will have a 1.2x2mm spot with 0.7mRad divergence.
With other diodes, the spot seems to be approximately the same.

Hello,

no, i don't talked about the Lens27, this is a cheap taiwan
lens system with not so much magic behind.
You can use a long 5,6mm LD (like J27 or J29) with our collimators,
this is no problem. The beam with a 660nm diode is nearly 2x1,2mm,
divergence can be close to 0,65mrad. I can post a picture made with a
beamprofiler next days.

greetings,
marco

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hobbybob

Hi Marco,

With "magic" lenses do you refer to the Thorlabs or to the Lens27 ?
I think this is very interesting. Can a long open can 300mW red be used with your lenses ?
Currently i am thinking of building a quad red setup. Your lenses could be the perfect companion.
And what beamspecs can we expect. I like the beamspecs McCarrot posted. small with very, very low divergence.

Hope to hear from you soon.

---

very interesting Marco !
I now use Daedal's lenses, which give me a 10mm dot at 10meters, which is not bad.
I thought the Aixiz lens glass was better, ordered 6, but they give not a nice round dot, but a dot with a "stripe" on 1 side.

Do you also have diode/lens holders ? To mount the magic lens and diode in a cooling block i mean ?
Since i read your lenses are 11mm unfortunately. The stands i like (from Laserman) are 12mm...
I have already some kapton tape underway, so a mount with 11mm hole would be good to hold this magic lens. I can use the kapton tape to electrically isolate the diode/lens but also it is heatconductive so it will transfer heat away. With the profile you say it's possible to make a 2x2mm beam (if it's 3x3mm i also don't care ;-) But the low divergence would make a great red.
I need a LOOOOOT of red..... since i have almost 300mW blue ;-)

Looking forward to your pictures and if you have a solution to make a quad, or have holders / parts let me know... this is getting more and more interesting.

marco, at 35 euro your solution is more expensive than the lens27 solution. How is the diode mounted, and how is the lens adjusted?

Lens 27 = a lens only with 1,5mrad

Marco's = a complete collimator where you can glue in (thermal glue) the diode with 0,65mrad (depending on diode)

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...chmentid=13556

;)

lens 27 = 1.5 mrd , why would you want less. ?
all the greens and blues out there are about 1.5 mrd ,so it makes a good match then .
i use lens 27 on my 642nm and that more like <1 mrd so why they quote 1.5 on the data sheet i dont know

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kl79

http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...chmentid=13556

;)

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and how much does that cost ?
i expect you could get a ready made lw 640 for what he would want for one of those :D

Don't speak to me about laserwaves...

Marco's set are not free for sure...but we speak about a quality product !


Edit : I don't want to say something bad about laserwaves products, but here, we speak about "parts" not "assembly parts"
(may my english speaking is not very good, sorry)

laserwaves are quality modules, and their support is quality

there will always be a difference between commercial quality (which is great from laserwave), and a custom made product made available to the public because of its excellence

I agree 30€ is not cheap for a collimator barrel and a lens, but the next good alternative is aixiz + lens27, and on the other side you have thorlabs products which are in the affordable range for some top quality material

If I was to choose between marco's collimators and a lens27 in an aixiz housing, I'd go for marco's for sure, especially for opnext diodes

has anyone used/tested marco's stuff? or are we taking his word for it?

What I want to know is how we are concluding that lens27 (or any collimator for that matter) is limited to no better than ~1.5mrad? Collimating a single-mode diode has the advantage of extremely low divergence since the initial beam diameter is large. Also, since the light emission from a LD comes from a microscopic point source, the beam diameter is "expanded" many times just in the trip from the diode facet to the first lens. This expansion results in some of the lowest divergence figures I've ever seen when compared to gas and DPSS lasers when using single-mode diodes. Obviously multimode diodes are a whole different story, though.

I own 4 lens 27 in my red setup, sure they are great, I have not measure divergence, but the spot is thin ( 1.5x2mm ?) and divergence is acceptable.

And I'm on the way to build another quad setup with two marco's set (640nm, 150mW) and two lpc815 with marco's colimator and driver.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ElektroFreak

What I want to know is how we are concluding that lens27 (or any collimator for that matter) is limited to no better than ~1.5mrad?

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Thats what the datasheet says. And I think if a company like Roithner makes a datasheet whats the point about lying for a worse number?

With the LENS27 in front of quite a few different SM DVD diodes I saw ~1mR and mostly <1mR.
A good thing about these if using them in a multi setup is the lens element is bonded to the M9x.5 alu threaded holder, so with a bit of PTFE on the threads you have zero movement possibility.

Marco, any pictures of your tube/lens assemblies in pieces please?

Pretty much any single-mode diode should be able to achieve well below 1mrad through just about any collimation assembly. This is because of the beam expansion that occurs prior to the output optics. Better optics will give more transmission and a better far-field beam profile, but divergence should be pretty much awesome in all cases.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by badger1666

lens 27 = 1.5 mrd , why would you want less. ?
all the greens and blues out there are about 1.5 mrd ,so it makes a good match then .
i use lens 27 on my 642nm and that more like <1 mrd so why they quote 1.5 on the data sheet i dont know

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It's also the beam profile that counts, especially if you want to built a quad or 6 or 8 fold setup with diodes.
If a lens gives a nice 1,2x2mm beam or it gives a dot of 3x3 you will notice this when you are beamstacking and knife-edging all the beams together. Beamprofile is something different then divergence, but for building a quad also very important.

I'd like to know more detailed data of various lenses; I got data sheets only of the Roithner lenses (Lens-27 in particular), and of course of the (expensive) Geltechs of Thorlabs, but am lacking any data of most of the lenses that are popular here (Aixiz, 650-G-1) etc. In fact, there is much more to say about a collimator lens than just efficiency and beam divergence.

For optimal results, the lens must be matched to the particular diode and as such one needs to know the NA value, focal length and so on. I had complaints about the beam quality of my single mode lasers, and this was due to the fact that the Roithner Lens-27 I used is well-matched to ordinary DVD diodes, which typically have a fast opening angle of like 17 degrees; but it is not well-matched to the 642nm Opnext HL6385 I use, it leads to all sorts of spill-over diffraction effects, Airy rings, etc. In some cases the beam is pretty horrible and not well suitable for holography. Thus I am looking for lenses optimized for the HL6385 diodes (which have a fast opening angle of 23 degrees, ie, a larger NA).

I was reading here and there (LPF, that is) about various kinds of lenses, such as the 650-G-1, but couln't find anywhere reliable data such as the NA value and focal length, etc. Without these an optimal design is just a gamble. Does anybody have spec sheets or recommendations for other lenses?

Thanks,
R.X.

(similar post at LPF)

I know this thread is getting terribly off topic--but I thought I would remind you guys of how divergence works.

The divergence of a diffraction limited laser beam and its diameter are inversely proportional--obviously not all the the lasers we use for show applications and not all of the cheep acrylic lenses offer diffraction limited performance, but just about any DVD or blu-ray diode is going to give a m^2 of <1.3 or so, which means at worse case you will get about 1.5 times the ideal divergence. I doubt that axiz lenses are diff limited, but they come fairly close, and pretty much any glass asphere you buy these days is diff limited.

That in mind, you can set the beam diameter by looking at the divergence of the raw diode (you can look this up in the data sheet, it is usually 10degrees in one axis, 20 in the other, which gives rise to the oval shaped beams) and use arctangent to calculate what the size will be at the effective focal length of your lens. It usually isn't an issue, but its also a good idea to check the NA of the lens and make sure its greater than that of the diode, which is about .3-.5 for a typical single mode diode). This calculation can be somewhat kudgy, since with an asphere the focal length is not really clearly defined as it would be with a normal lens, usually you can just use the effective focal length and not worry about it, but if you get a number within 10% of the measured you are doing pretty well.

From that, there is a nice simple calculator that will tell you what your diffraction limited divergence should be at http://www.nvginc.com/beam_divergence.htm.

So to conclude--the shorter the focal length of the lens the small the beam, and higher the divergence.

Its very nice to have those collimators. There is one problem.

If you ordering something from Marco. he never responds and if he responds it is after 3 till 5 days):confused:

I ordered 4 of these collimators so and i ordered these more then a week ago.:(

for me its just a hobby but can you image when you reallly need the components for a show:eek:

ok guys, I told a friend of mine wich is also a good friend of Marco and he will remember him to check a littleoften his pm box.

Also If anyone's interrested, the same friend is selling a brand new complete set (driver, collimator, diode 642nm 150mW)from marco. Ask me for the price.

I have decided to cancel the order for the collimators. It takes to long since i ordered these 3 weeks ago:(. I,m going to look for another supplier. Nothing personal.

Hm strange. I also ordered collimators from Marco and had no problems. Delivery was not the fastest though, it took arround two weeks.

Hello,

sorry - i was on a business trip and not in the office.

greetings,
marco