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Thread: Home made blue dpss laser

  1. #1
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    Nov 2006
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    Default Home made blue dpss laser

    Has any one tried to build a blue dpss laser.
    I so what are the parts required i.e 808nm pump diode & what crystals are used LBO / KNB03 e.t.c
    Ritchie

  2. #2
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    Default

    its easier to buy one than make one
    Eat Sleep Lase Repeat

  3. #3
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    Nov 2006
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    Smile Home made blue dpss laser

    Hi Andy

    The reason that i placed the post is because i already have a blue dpss laser
    And out of curiosity i carefully lifted the top cover.\

    when i opened it was very suprised at how Little was inside it

    Inside it has a small i think "c-slab laser diode" then a lens that focuses the beam to a crystal & then a small rectangle crystal followed by a glass disc & finally a small collamanating glass disc .

    When i power up "& yes the laser is still working perfectly"
    The pump diode glows red & its beam can be seen focused to the next crystal/optic "which i think is an LBO or KNB03 or i may be very wrong"

    The beam then passes to the rectangle optic which glows blue.
    Then to the next optic which is shaped like a disk
    The blue beam (dot) can be seen on it & it then passes to the collamanating lens & finally to the focusing lens.

    The laser is outputting just under 100mw & my thoughts were "what if i replaced the diode with a higher power one".

    Or can i purchase the optic`s required ? to build my own blue laser ?

    Does any one know what all the optics are that are used in this setup ?

    Also i believe that there is around a 6% efficiancy with blue dpss laser`s i.e with a 1watt pump diode the blue output will be around 60mw.
    So if this was the case if i fitted a 10watt diode it should output around 500-600mw.

    Or is there a limit to the pump diode power versus the power that the optics can handle without damaging them.

    I have an HND in Electronics & as a hobby played with laser`s for about 20 years.

    I have rebuilt green dpss lasers from changing diodes & refitting/aligning the optics & would now like to do the same with blue dpss but i need to learn about the optics that they use.

    Any help/guidance would be appriciated
    Ritchie

  4. #4
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    Laserads
    You are along the right lines - nearly

    The 808 diode as with all dpss will pump a crystal of YAG or more likely in a small laser vandate (ND:YV04). The only difference in the internals between red, green and blue is essentially the optical coatings. Green is most popular as its the easiest to achieve being that yag or vandate will most readily lase at 1064 nm. The lines that are doubled for red (1342nm) blue (914nm or 946nm) are much weaker lines so need more power in, as well as the crystals being coated to promote lasing of these appropriate line. Often in lasers you will find that lines compete so lasing at 1064 will steal energy from 946 say. So you have to promote one line and suppress the others. This is why there is not a single solution to the RGB dpss lasing out of one set of crystals.

    So to make blue you need vandate with 946 or 914 HR plus AR 808 coating on one end and HR 808 plus HT 946 or 914 on the other. Then you need KTP or LBO (this is your oblong crystal that glows blue) with similarly adapted coatings. Finally the disc before the lens is the Output coupler. This will not reflect blue but will be coated to reflect the 946 infra red back into the cavity - the more times a photon pases through the shg the more chance there is of it being frequency doubled.

    Then to add to all of this the lasing of the other lines in vandate (ie not 1064) is very temp critical. So you can have a green with passive cooling but not a blue or red as the tecs are used to ensure the whole thing is carefully controlled.

    Bottom line is yes its very doable but only if you have xtals with the right properties.

    As for befing up an existing laser yes more power in will equal more power out but only if the pump laser has a smallenough emitter and that the Vandate in particular has enough physical bulk and cooling to cope with te extra energy input.

    To answer Andy - to buy is boring
    I love to make - I have a green dpss project on the go not because I want another green but I want the acheivement of building one from scratch with all the bitz.

    Rob
    If you need to ask the question 'whats so good about a laser' - you won't understand the answer.
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  5. #5
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    Default

    I bought a new 50mw blue for $400. It came with analog modulation module as well as a 5v power supply. It even has TEC cooling. You could always buy one of these for parts and then put it back together again to build your own.

  6. #6
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by laserads View Post
    Also i believe that there is around a 6% efficiancy with blue dpss laser`s i.e with a 1watt pump diode the blue output will be around 60mw.
    So if this was the case if i fitted a 10watt diode it should output around 500-600mw.

    Or is there a limit to the pump diode power versus the power that the optics can handle without damaging them.
    There is. If the only thing between ten times more power and LOTS of income for the maker was a stronger pump diode, they'd do it instead of leaving the opportunity to you. I doubt you could squeeze another 20% out of it safely, if that could be done with decent specs and lifetime, they'd be doing it. Lasers are not bulk items like CPU's where apparently many cheaper ones are just better ones renumbered, because the process is so consistent that it's cheaper to make them all good and grade them later, leaving plenty of opportunity for overclockers... Lasers will generally be as good as it's possible to make them, no maker is going to deprive themselves of income by leaving deliberately wide margins. The best you can hope for is that a lesser maker has got a weak link in the chain from pump to output, but then you have to reverse engineer in VERY exacting detail to safely identify it and strengthen it. If you can do that reliably, you need not settle for a personal build, you'd do better to up sticks and work for the company. They'd certainly hire you.

  7. #7
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    I have a source on the crystal sets of Yag and BiBo with the correct coatings. They are not cheap. Also you will need collimation optics, A killer diode and grin lense, and all the TEC control circuit and diode drive source. It is better to buy than to build...unless you just have to do it. I have word that the crystals are sealed from absorbing moisture as well. You would want to assemble and align using indirect viewing tools...
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  8. #8
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    Nov 2006
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    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by MechEng3 View Post
    I have a source on the crystal sets of Yag and BiBo with the correct coatings. They are not cheap. Also you will need collimation optics, A killer diode and grin lense, and all the TEC control circuit and diode drive source. It is better to buy than to build...unless you just have to do it. I have word that the crystals are sealed from absorbing moisture as well. You would want to assemble and align using indirect viewing tools...
    Hi

    What price ?!?!?!?
    & whats a "killer diode"

    Cheerz
    Ritchie

  9. #9
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    Exclamation

    Something like 350 for one bibo and the yag I am not sure of yet. Diode would need to be 2 to 4 watts of 808nm or a little higher. I have no data on the damage threshold. Something like 3 to 4 hundred for a diode in a C mount package at 5 watts w/ fast axis correction lense. Now you see where this is going......expensive.
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  10. #10
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    Question

    Could you convert a 532nm to 473nm? Easily? Cheaply?
    Love, peace, and grease,

    allthat... aka: aaron@pangolin

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