Next project: Big Green.

[jayDC]

I am in the process of collecting supplies for my next project. I intend to take a Water Cooled CO2 Cutting laser, and frequency double it to a green. I'm currently looking at a unit that puts out 120Watts of 1064 nm. I figure with the right crystal I'll yeild at least 10 watts of green, for a minimal investment. I found the tube, chiller, and power supply (runs on 110vac household) and waiting on the price, which I thinking will be less then $2100. Now all I need is to locate the crystal. I'll keep you guys updated.

[Spec]

Hey guy.

Co2 lasers are 10,600nM (10.6uM) in wavelength not 1060nM. No green.

Find a working CW medical/surgical YAG, that can be doubled.

[yaddatrance]

Hmm... You might want to check your docs, you're missing a decimal point

Last I knew CO2 was 1060*0* nm

[jayDC]

Are you sure, I was talking to another laserist, and they said it should work find. I'll start looking more into it before I purchase. :x

[jayDC]

Wow.. I feel like a jack ass.. I'm glad I didn't post that I already bought it.. Yikes, what an oversight..

[yaddatrance]

Good catch Glad we could help you before you bought your CO2 deathray

If you're still interested in doing this project I'd recommend starting
with a YAG laser... I'm sure you know, but 120-150W Yags can be
had at very low cost... Heck, Ivan has a 150W YAG at his shop that
we're kind of scared of that you might convince him to let go of...

With intracavity doubling, you could get 40W of green out of one...
The optics for those are a pain to align (often quite literally)...
With external doubling, the beam is a bit large so the crystal has to be
larger which makes them expensive and hard to keep stabilized,
but with proper alignment you could see your 10W out of it...

One caveat is, that when all is said'n done, due to the cost of optics
and the danger levels involved during alignment, I'd bet it'd probably be
cheaper and far saner to buy a premade high power green...

I should also mention that I personally find any laser past 20W scary...
There's nothing quite like having a laser screeching it's way through a
solid metal beam block toward you shooting sparks and wondering if
you have enough time to run to kill the power. Also research the
term "detached retina" and "IR laser" for further caveats...

So if you're not in it for the fun and education, and just want the lowest
price on a big scary green... I'd recommend finding a busted 20-40W
532nm laserscope and send it to Edgar up in LA, don't remember his
shop's name... Last I checked, he services those things for a fair price.