Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27

Thread: 405 nm results

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    ,essex, uk
    Posts
    166

    Default 405 nm results


    Hi people, most of you guys have probably got a ps3 405nm diode already and there is a bit of information on the web sam’s laser faq for instance, I got mine from psxboy I had two units to start off with now there’s only one but hear is what I have found,
    The first diode using a aixiz module to mount the diode, an old home built laser driver big bulky old thing my soldering is not to hot and I borrowed my friends laser check to keep an eye on power output after running continuously for just over 5 weeks at 4.2 volts and 24 ma the output was stable and holding at 5 mw the unit stayed at room temperature all the time. While this was going on I purchased a die4 laser driver and a die4 thing power meter, I checked the die4 thing against the laser check and the readings were the same so I then connected up the other diode ran at same output power(5mw) but this diode needed only 23 ma at 4.1 volts there can be many reasons for this, different driver power meter slightly better gain in the chip, optics etc this was 2 weeks ago the one that was running for 3 weeks continuously I thought I would turn it off and connect up the red diode to see what colours I could get I was warned on sam’s laser faq that there could be a heat problem so I took it easy to start of with starting at zero ma and volts on a separate driver for the red as I did not think the red would like the 4 volts plus that was going through the 405nm diode, got it lase without a problem trouble is I should have thought about it a bit more as the optics that had the 405nm nicely focused would not focus the red diode properly due to the vast difference in wavelengths probably around 250 nm if I focused the red the the uv laser would become unfocused and vice versa so I gave up on that idea ( should have known better)anyway I decided to up the power to 12 mw I done this by 1 mw increments over about an hour where it stayed for nearly 2 weeks, yesterday it was running at 5 volt/ 36 ma, the beam profile was still good and the case was still room temp around 22 c, feeling kinda proud of myself as usall I could not let it stay at 12mw so I thought that I would try and push me luck for 15 mw , I took it up at about 1 mw over about 20 minutes it stayed there until about 2 hours ago where the brightness dropped off considerably after checking its 5 mw and the beam profile is not as it was, and there is a lot of scatter in the beam probably the chips laser aperture is damaged ( front face) so it lasted approximately 20 hours at 15mw that’s after optics with a tec on it who knows maybe 48 hours maybe know difference what so ever as the case never got warm at all just room temp all the time, and I know I had good thermal contact with the case as I use arctic silver alumina thermal adhesive for a permanent good thermal bond between diode and case, now I have nearly destroyed one I have taken the power down to 8 mw where it will stay there. Personally I got these to see if I could do it and post the results here on PL , and it was not to hard to do but as a practical laser it does not have the raw power output to be of any real use apart from making thing fluoresce unless you combine them and it wouldn’t work out that expensive to do but even then at around 12 mw if you combine 4 beams giving you nearly 50 mw the wavelength is so low that it is hard to see like at the other end of the spectrum like a 670nm red laser if you know what I mean hope this helps any one who is going to build one of theses, if any one has any questions feel free
    All the best Kaz
    Nearly forgot iv put some pics in hope they come out ok








  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    ,essex, uk
    Posts
    166

    Default

    sorry nearly forgot to make it run at 15mw it was 5v 42ma also the photo of the beam in the bedroom was a 1 second shot 400 asa/ f4.4 with fag smoke hanging around

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    7,067

    Thumbs up

    Nice little write up there man! Thanks!
    Love, peace, and grease,

    allthat... aka: aaron@pangolin

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Cupertino, California
    Posts
    2,130

    Default

    Yes, Very well said! I'm surprised that the Dir4Thing goes that low in wavelength!
    CLICKY!!!

    Admin: In the immortal words of Captain Planet: YOU HAVE THE POWER
    Admin: (To quit being a bitch)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Posts
    2,342

    Default

    Thanks for the data points, very useful. testing for weeks takes patience

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    ,essex, uk
    Posts
    166

    Default

    thanks guys, the die4 thing as far as i am aware has a thermal censor head so it is not wavelength dependent, and as for the results it will probably vary by small amounts depending on setups, i dont know what would happen if you just crank the power uo to say 12 in one go i took my time on this which is unusall for me as normaly im quite impatient to get results back, on sam's laser faq it says as a rough guide line as soon as the diode starts to lase add around another 10 ma tops but as strangs as it sounds i could not tell when that critical point came as with hardly know vots and milliamps the was uv comming from the diode its a bit of a job to exsplain all i know is the diodes like the volts rather than the amps so you do need a driver that puts out up to 5 volts, it think if you have a driver that only goes up to say 3 volts and you try and get 12 ma out of it by cranking the ma 's up you could get a catistrophic failure quicker but im only guessing on this one

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    2,478

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kaz View Post
    thanks guys, the die4 thing as far as i am aware has a thermal censor head so it is not wavelength dependent


    Exactly so. Might not always be accurate at low powers, but if the room air is still and you control ambient heat sources to keep them either constant or absent, you'll probably get to within 0.2 mW resolution and measure beams down to around 1 mW. I can definitely do that on a Scientech head and a simple op-amp gain stage that is capable of up to 30 watts on the same range at same resolution. Once it's checked with a Lasercheck and a known laser with clean output I put the Lasercheck away to protect it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    ,essex, uk
    Posts
    166

    Default

    Hi Doc, plus or minus 1 mw is near enough for me, lower power lasers i can guess to a certain amout but once the power goes up over the 100mw range im lost so any thing is better than nothing

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    2,478

    Default

    That D4thing you've got there is rated to 12 watts.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    ,essex, uk
    Posts
    166

    Default

    Hi Doc, i dont think i am going to ever get it any where near the max ( i wish) but you never know

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •