Well I got a sample on Friday, and have spent a little time playing round with lenses I have here.. as seem below, the results are a little disappointing. Just a little!!
OK, here goes.
First lens up - Thor C110TME - Focal length 6.24mm
Attachment 18712Attachment 18711
Beam size at aperture, around 5mm by 1mm. drive current, 525ma, output power 375mw.
Second lens up - Creative laser technologies, glass lens, ar coated
Attachment 18713Attachment 18714
Beam size at aperture, about 5mm by 1mm. Drive current 525ma, output power 240mw.
Third lens up - Aixiz glass
Attachment 18715Attachment 18716
Beam size at aperture, about 5mm by 1mm. Drive current 525ma, output power 215mw
Pretty clear the NA of the second 2 lenses is not up to the task, and a lot of that ugly stripe is getting clipped by the lenses.
So with a good lens, who likes 6mrad with no correction? ( I got 2mrad with the same focal length lens with a 445nm diode )
I tried with some prisms, and they work, but the losses are a lot higher than 445nm.
Something else I tried was masking off the lower power fringes along the length of the stripe, leaving only the higher power portion of the beam in a 5 x 1mm rectangle. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of power in the side fringes. Masking the Thor lens dropped around 150mw off the total power.
Conclusion: Does anybody want a red flashlight? We have one for sale cheap!! Seriously I give up!