What if.....

[CDBEAM]

HB...as far as Jelly beaning....search the forum for many good answers !!!

As far as heat transfer....YES...Aluminum plate machined down to a custom thickness is likely superior to stiff springs....And ....after more thinking ( Smoke from ears !! )....the beam does NOT have to strike the HR mirror or Dichro in any exact angle !!! roughly 45 degree.....so...it would NOT be demanded that the beam propagation be parallel to your optic platform....The only demand for near field alignment is that the joining beams strike the Dichro in the exact same spot. Also, that "spot" does not have to be in the middle of the dichro....anywhere as long as you are not too close to the mount frame as to cause interference.

SO...this means that you really only need to adjust the height and side to side movement of any given laser head to acheive near field alignment ( Beam Overlay ). Therefore....I may use the springs to determine what the optimal height is....then measure the gap between LH base and Optical level platfrorm(OLP). With that measurement.....have my local machine shop mill a small aluminum plate to use to replace the temporary springs....then there....perfect height and good thermal transfer to the OLP heatsink !!! Oh...and also use thermal paste to optimizeheat transfer !! Who could ask for more...well...a 500 USD 457nm 500mw direct diode module I also ask for...haha

One more trick I have used is to employ HVAC Aluminum foil tape to fine tune adjustment needs. This stuff
comes in 2/4/6" widths and is two mils( .0508mm) thick with an adhesive back. Just keep stacking it up till you get to where you want to go !!

CDBEAM/Terrawatt

[Pitts]

Hi

I have done a lot of "shimmimg" on various lasers to get beam heights correct.
You can get very nice aluminium sheet in various thickneses from your local model shop.
I think K&S are one crowd that make this.
If you get close you can simply shim right in to the sweet spot.
Another advantage is you can cut with heavy scissors (the thin sheets) without causing any major distortion on the edges.
I have never had to use heat conducting paste between but that could be laser dependant.

Personally I hate to see wierd angles to get beams aligned, I like them all to be sitting sweetly combined as they travel through the system to the mirrors.
Its hard enough to get things perfect without buidling in any issues.

Cheers

Ray
NZ