Blue monster project

[laserdj]

Hi people, I ordered a Casio projector, and will extract these beautiful laser diodes. My plans are to make a powerful laser by stacking some beams (blue only), and use it in outdoor events, scanning in the sky, etc. What would you suggest for building such a beast? What kind of PS can power 4 or more of these diodes, how can one stack them, and what kind of optics I can use to have a usable beam for scanning? I haven´t bought any thing besides the projector, so I´m open to suggestions on all things.. (galvos, drivers, optics, etc..) I have already two projectors, each one a with 300mw green and a 300mw red diode, and I am aware that these blue diodes are quite more powerful and dangerous, so scanning audiences is out of the question. (even if I´m not in the US). Any suggestions, help, tips will be welcome. Thank you very much.

[Jem]

Hi LaserDJ, and welcom to Photonlexicon.

I see this is your very first post here. It is usual to intorduce yourself and just tell us a bit about your interest (and use of) lasers. It would also be very helpful if you could fill out your location in your profile so that we can see whereabouts in the world you are. This also helps us to give advice that is more specific to which part of the world you live in.

Most countries have rules governing the use of lasers outdoors. Have you checked with the authorities whether or not this is acceptable in the country you live in?

Cheers

Jem

[laserdj]

Sorry, I´m from Brazil, Amazon.. There´s no regulation around here as long as lasers are concerned, but of course we are always concerned with safety, mainly of aircraft when lasing outdoors. In my area people rent 5 to 15w green lasers for outdoor events but they come from far areas of the country and are quite expensive to rent. My idea is to have a powerful enough available locally. My main interest is laser shows, I already rent the other lasers I have for events, and also other kinds of light. Thanks!

[laserdj]

I´m getting an error when I tried to complete my profile...

Checking if a package is enabled for an invalid package '3' on line 392 in /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/vb/types.php #0 /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/vb/router.php(503): vB_Types->packageEnabled('3') #1 /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/vb/router.php(566): vB_Router::assertRoutes #2 /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/vb/route.php(231): vB_Router::getRouteSegmentFromClass('vBCms_Route_Lis...') #3 /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/packages/vbcms/route/list.php(92): vB_Route->__construct() #4 /home/photonle/photonlexicon.com/forums/member.php(567): vBCms_Route_List::getURL(Array) #5 {main}   Fatal error: Checking if a package is enabled for an invalid package '3' on line 392 in [path]/vb/types.php in [path]/vb/vb.php on line 287

[Admin]

Sorry. That should be fixed now.

[mpoulton]

What would you suggest for building such a beast? What kind of PS can power 4 or more of these diodes, how can one stack them, and what kind of optics I can use to have a usable beam for scanning?

For driving the lasers, you might want to consider a separate driver circuit for each diode, or a pair of diodes in series for each driver. It's hard to find drivers that are designed for high voltage and relatively low current, which is what you'll need for a series string of these lasers. It's easier to just use more drivers - especially since you can get 10 Flexmods for the cost of one big-name commercial diode driver.

There have been a few threads on here already about the beam characteristics and how to combine them. The beam tends to be rectangular, about 4 times wider in one axis than the other. This makes it easy to stack several side by side using the "knife edge" technique which is described elsewhere on this forum. Of course, you need collimating optics on each diode before you can combine the beams. There are many solutions for that, but the Aixiz and possibly O-Like laser diode modules seem to be suitable and are cheap.

To obtain the maximum possible power density out of your array, you may want to build two identical arrays and combine them with a polarizing beam splitter (PBS). For example, if you want a total of 16 lasers, make two knife-edge-combined arrays of 8, then rotate one array 90 degrees and use a PBS to combine the two. This method places the two beams directly on top of each other, not just next to each other, so the power is doubled without changing them beam diameter.

There is no technical or scientific reason you couldn't make an array of 8, 16, or even 24 of these lasers. The challenge is just to get everything aligned properly, and to make the beam compact enough to scan. Fortunately for beam effects you don't need a super tiny beam. You'll end up with something more like a copper vapor laser's beam. Thermal stability of the assembly may become an issue. You'll need to think about how the parts will move as heat flows into the assembly from the lasers. I think someone here already did a 4-laser module, but you might be the first to do more.

[laserdj]

For driving the lasers, you might want to consider a separate driver circuit for each diode, or a pair of diodes in series for each driver. It's hard to find drivers that are designed for high voltage and relatively low current, which is what you'll need for a series string of these lasers. It's easier to just use more drivers - especially since you can get 10 Flexmods for the cost of one big-name commercial diode driver.

There have been a few threads on here already about the beam characteristics and how to combine them. The beam tends to be rectangular, about 4 times wider in one axis than the other. This makes it easy to stack several side by side using the "knife edge" technique which is described elsewhere on this forum. Of course, you need collimating optics on each diode before you can combine the beams. There are many solutions for that, but the Aixiz and possibly O-Like laser diode modules seem to be suitable and are cheap.

To obtain the maximum possible power density out of your array, you may want to build two identical arrays and combine them with a polarizing beam splitter (PBS). For example, if you want a total of 16 lasers, make two knife-edge-combined arrays of 8, then rotate one array 90 degrees and use a PBS to combine the two. This method places the two beams directly on top of each other, not just next to each other, so the power is doubled without changing them beam diameter.

There is no technical or scientific reason you couldn't make an array of 8, 16, or even 24 of these lasers. The challenge is just to get everything aligned properly, and to make the beam compact enough to scan. Fortunately for beam effects you don't need a super tiny beam. You'll end up with something more like a copper vapor laser's beam. Thermal stability of the assembly may become an issue. You'll need to think about how the parts will move as heat flows into the assembly from the lasers. I think someone here already did a 4-laser module, but you might be the first to do more.

Thank you very much... after reading your post I was able to search in the forum and learn a lot! I´ve seen the superb 24 diode red laser, and while I understand there´s a lot of work to be done and money to be spent, now I see it is POSSIBLE! Thanks everybody, I´ll keep you posted !

[andy_con]

a 24 diode red build and a 24 diode 445 build are very v ery different.

different diodes very different beams

[laserdj]

a 24 diode red build and a 24 diode 445 build are very v ery different.

different diodes very different beams

Please enlighten me Andy.. I´m all ears and willing to learn... Thanks!

[andy_con]

well you need to correct the beam of a 445 diode you dont a red diode.

you dont have to correct the beams but then your final beam would be like a search light