Mounts and Lenses for DVD diodes

[JimBo]

Where can I get some from?
What are other people using?

Jim

[stanwax]

up to now jim I have used things ive had in. Partly because im a cheapskete
The lens from the DVD focus mechanism will work, gives a nice(ish) beam with low losses but needs to be positioned very close to the diode (about 1.5mm). This is a pain to acheive and makes it very sensitive to temp so constantly needs readjusting.
I have also used the lenses from cheap laser pointers. They are yukky plastic and are often cloudy with scratches but again give low losses. When I first used a dvd diode I tested all the lenses that I had collected and opted for one that was not the best beam quality (but adequate) but that had very low losses. I have found some lenses that produce really neat beams but loose over half the power which is not good.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[The_Doctor]

The lens from the DVD focus mechanism will work, gives a nice(ish) beam with low losses but needs to be positioned very close to the diode (about 1.5mm). This is a pain to acheive and makes it very sensitive to temp so constantly needs readjusting.

That's the problem I'm facing. Any ideas about mounting materials that might offset this by reacting inversely to the same temperature changes? That is the ideal fix, so someone out there is surely working on it.

Re lenses, the Philips CAY046 and CAY033 are nice, made for the task. Cheap too, and easy to find in quantity. Not AR coated, so lose around 10%, but they get close to the diode and gather all the light if the diode has narrow divergence, as most DVD diodes do. I think even the smallest CAY033/040 lenses can be given a broadband dielectric coating to pass over 99% of input light, but I don't know the cost yet.

[dave]

http://www.mi-lasers.com/cgi-bin/sho...s=diode_optics