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Thread: More power!

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

    Default solid state vs gas ion lasers

    I think up to around 1 watt of RGB or so you will be best served by DPSS solutions. After that, you're looking at Kr-Ar ion lasers - and all the cost, complexity, water cooling, and power requirements they come with!

    If all you need is green, you can go all the way to 40 watts and still be solid state. (Laserscope DPSS solutions exist for the 10-40 watt range.) But they get expensive... Once you cross the 2 watt range, even for just green, you can get more power for less money with an ion laser. But the trade-off is that it's more work to set up, use, and maintain one.

    If you need more than 200 mw of blue, or if you need more than 2 watts total power (all lines), then ion lasers are going to be cheaper - even though they're a pain in the ass to deal with. Case in point: 200 mw of DPSS blue will cost you $1500 or more. For that kind of money you can get 1-2 watts of Argon... Heck, for about 5 grand you can get a nice refurb whitelight ion laser that will make 2-5 watts, all lines. Try doing that solid state!

    But ion lasers are heavy and bulky. They are difficult to align. They use obscene amounts of electricity. They generate obscene amounts of heat. But they're a cheap way to have a "death ray" laser.... Cheap, that is, compared to the same amount of power in solid state. (And for multiple watts of blue or red, ion lasers are just about the ONLY solution.)

    Adam

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    84

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by liteglow
    how much buck are we talking about ?

    Not something a laser hobbyist can afford ???
    Yes, how much?

    I'd also be interested in just the PS if you have one available.

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