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Thread: So you wanna build a laser?

  1. #1
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    Default So you wanna build a laser?

    This will be the beginning of helps for you. I found it to be very usefull with a wavelengths. I have a virtual library that I use. Some I am not allowed to share.

    http://web.phys.ksu.edu/vqm/laserweb...y/Cavstabe.htm

    This will help in laying out the cavity if you know the ROC of the HR and output coupler.
    Enjoy
    You are the only one that can make your dreams come true....and the only one that can stop them...A.M. Dietrich

  2. #2
    mixedgas's Avatar
    mixedgas is offline Creaky Old Award Winning Bastard Technologist
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    Quote Originally Posted by MechEng3 View Post
    This will be the beginning of helps for you. I found it to be very usefull with a wavelengths. I have a virtual library that I use. Some I am not allowed to share.

    http://web.phys.ksu.edu/vqm/laserweb...y/Cavstabe.htm

    This will help in laying out the cavity if you know the ROC of the HR and output coupler.
    Enjoy
    Or just download this:

    PSST!

    http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~psst/

    lets you do the cavity stability, multiple element cavities , intracavity lenses and even the thermal lensing of the rod.

    I've used it for years. I hear there may be problems with Vista, but they might heave been fixed.


    Steve

  3. #3
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    Default

    I just want a known combination of diode, lens,, driver, and heatsink that would make a decent 635nm beam for a "reasonable" price, along with a basic instruction manual that covers assembly & tuning.

    The stuff you smart fellers talk about makes my head hurt.....
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  4. #4
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    Cool

    Hey Randy....

    How much would you pay for a 660 nm red diode (with good beam specs; under 4 mm and under 1 mrad) that made 250 mw with good analog modulation? Would you think that $200 would be a reasonable price for a complete plug-and-play package?

    OK, now how about a single 660 nm laser with the same beam specs and driver, making 500 mw of power? What would think about paying $500 for one of those?

    If those numbers sound like they're at least in the ball park, then I can tell you that good things will be coming in the next couple months or so. (And if I open my mouth again, Mike is going to kill me...)

    Adam
    Last edited by buffo; 11-01-2008 at 03:41.

  5. #5
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    Now tell me you've got a 500mw 445nm analogue blue for $700 and I'll be really impressed!!

  6. #6
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    Cool

    Sorry dude... Mike is good, but he's not *that* good. (Well, at least not yet!)

    Adam

  7. #7
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    Stuka likes red.......and likes what I'm reading!!

    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  8. #8
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    what's that I smell? ::sniff sniff::

    smells like my projector is close to being rgb!
    "TO DO IS TO BE" - Nietzsche
    "TO BE IS TO DO" - Kant
    "DO BE DO BE DO" - Sinatra

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    OK, now how about a single 660 nm laser with the same beam specs and driver, making 500 mw of power? What would think about paying $500 for one of those?
    Adam

    Are we talking polarised output at 500mW for $500. If so, 1 watt of red combined with a PBS for $1000 (ish) sounds reasonable.

    Got to ask myself if I can last a couple of months or so

    Jem
    Quote: "There is a theory which states that if ever, for any reason, anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”... Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001

  10. #10
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    Smile

    I really should stop this...

    Mike has got some amazing designs, but he's up to his eyeballs in other work. I see a vacuum in the marketplace right now, ever since Marconi basically fell off the surface of the earth, and I believe Mike's designs really are good enough to fill the void.

    But Mike isn't all that interested in going into the laser manufacturing and selling business, and given all the irons he has in the fire right now, I can't blame him. (After all, it's not just the time to assemble and test them, it's the packaging, the shipping, the recordkeeping, the warranty issues, etc, etc...)

    Nonetheless, I keep tweaking his nose (and building enthusiasm here) in the hopes that I can convince him to do a small production run just for the folks here that are crying out for a good source of affordable red with decent beam specs. I'm probably becoming a pain in the ass for him , but it's working...

    Mike has reluctantly agreed to make a few of the lower power units to sell. The 500 mw units *may* follow later, if he can get the diode supplier to play ball re: the price of the diodes. But yes, there is a single diode solution for 500 mw of red.

    Longer term (think Spring 2009), I want to see him re-visit the 635 nm project. He had one that was making 350mw with a 4 mm beam diameter and .8mrad divergence! And there was a possibility to scale that up to around 900 mw (still with a single diode, mind you!) if only the diode manufacturer would get realistic with the cost of the diodes.

    It's a long story, and there are lots of frustrated calls and e-mails to suppliers and dealers involved. But there *is* hope. The technology is there, it's just a matter of price now. Well, and time, because Mike can't do *everything* all at once. (And I keep asking him, "Why the hell not?")

    Adam

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