*Finished* Pics & Vid -Xbox HD DVD (Blu-Ray) Laser

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

Try #2...

This time I got things lasing @ 30mA. Seems to working. I'll see if it lasts more than 15 minutes this time.

More here:
http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1206147131

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

Enjoy your copies of King Kong. lol. Nice job with your laser.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

well, my module arrived today.
now just gotta wait til i figure a solution for a driver that fits in my flashlight and runs on 6V

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

I got the diode out of my 360 drive and it works! IT'S ALIIIIVE! I can't wait to get some PS3 lasers and use some of them, because they seem to be cheaper, at least until the 360HD drops some more in price. The LM317 circuit works great, my diode lased with both 6 and 7 cell packs that I soldered up.

Next step is to find some SMD components and make up a tiny board for them. And rig up a toaster to bake it. I'll be putting together a guide on doing the PCB-toner-transfer-method and SMD soldering when I get some ambition, that is if nobody else on the forum has already.

No pics right now, my circuit is a mess. All the components are just hanging in the air; they're not on a board right now.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

Good work, once a few more people do this we can begin to determine the power curve for the diode. Couple questions.. how many mA are you driving it at, and does your diode have a rectangle of violet/yellow spray around the spot? (the spot sit off center in all this) On mine I can focus the spot well, and the spot is a clean elipse, but there's this rectangle of projected spray around the spot. It's cosmetic and does not affect the working of the player, but no so good for a pointer

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

does your diode have a rectangle of violet/yellow spray around the spot?

Click to expand...

This has been seen on the PS3 blue rays, it seems to appear when they are underdriven, does it look anything like this (drawing I did as the camera would not show the effect)?

Regards rog8811

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

No it's not quite like that. Each manufacturers diode has a unique spray pattern, often caused by reflection off various structures in the can. The pattern was the same for both diodes I had, I'm assuming it's something intrinsic to the construction of the LD.

Gimme a bit to attempt to get a picture of it.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

Ug, hard to get a picture of it.. camera chokes on it.

Try this..


This is from the first one that died.. the spot is fainter but the spray still there. It's a rectangle of violet, at the opposite ends of the long part of the rectangle the violet tapers to yellow (looks brighter than in the picture). The diode spot sits along the bottom (or top) of the rectangle, off center.

Probably the yellow is something fluorescing in the diode sandwich, and there could be more problems with scattering light at these freqs.

{EDIT, picture taken with laser no more than a couple meters from wall }

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

Your photo appears to show a perfectly focused picture of the LD assembly as far as I can see , I am not sure of the terminology but the rectangle appears to be the die block that is connected to positive, the lasing point is at the junction between the block and the negative side with a less bright line along the width of the joint. I have seen the off centre emission in photos taken looking straight at the LD before....yours looks very similar. (photo from sams laser FAQ)

Regards rog8811

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

When I recently tested my 360 HD DVD diode, I saw I was reading about 26mA at 5.05 volts where before I was measuring 34-35mA at 5.05 volts. The temperature and other conditions are not that different. Could I have done damage to my diode? Is it safe to turn the voltage up higher to achieve the 34-35mA again?

Thanks

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

MB500 said:

When I recently tested my 360 HD DVD diode, I saw I was reading about 26mA at 5.05 volts where before I was measuring 34-35mA at 5.05 volts. The temperature and other conditions are not that different. Could I have done damage to my diode? Is it safe to turn the voltage up higher to achieve the 34-35mA again?

Thanks

Click to expand...

That's just it - nobody knows anything about the diode. My very limited two datapoints indicate it may have a slightly lower max current than the Sony (PS3) diode.

I spent some time searching around on the internet, couldn't find anything. The drive innards are Toshiba.

Another thing to keep in mind is, even from the same model diode the operating current can vary by over a factor of two - each diode is unique, so there are no hard numbers. Ideally you know the rated power output and you adjust the current until the diode reaches that level (using a LPM). Second best would be to have the datasheet and adjust the current to the median value (using a DMM).

Mine, running at 30mA, is at least in the 10-15 mW range. I did an indirect power measurement compared to my 20-25 mW red pointer. Hang a garbage bag on the wall, and then (in the dark) graze the laser beam off it and watch the reflected light on the ceiling (needs to be held still). The reflected light will create a shifting pattern cuz lasers in this power range are just strong enough to start to melt the plastic without punching a hole in it. Judging by how 'animated' the patten is my pointer is probably around 15mW. It's really hard for me to estimate the power level by eye because it's just not very sensitive to it.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

rog, that's an awesome macro shot of a violet LD lasing. Did you take it? It looks just like what I saw when inspecting the die though the collimating lens. A think gray substrate (attached to the heatsink), with the purple one on top. It appears the entire top layer fluoresces a bit while lasing, causing the spray around the spot.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

that's an awesome macro shot of a violet LD lasing. Did you take it?

Click to expand...

I can take no credit for that one, it was borrowed from sams laser FAQ.

Regards rog8811

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

I decided to just regulate voltage instead of making a tiny current regulation circuit. I am using a low voltage so I wont risk the diode being driven too hard as the current increases. I'm using two 12 volt A23 batteries in parrellel because they fit in my battery case nice.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

flogged said:

That's just it - nobody knows anything about the diode. My very limited two datapoints indicate it may have a slightly lower max current than the Sony (PS3) diode.

I spent some time searching around on the internet, couldn't find anything. The drive innards are Toshiba.

Another thing to keep in mind is, even from the same model diode the operating current can vary by over a factor of two - each diode is unique, so there are no hard numbers. Ideally you know the rated power output and you adjust the current until the diode reaches that level (using a LPM). Second best would be to have the datasheet and adjust the current to the median value (using a DMM).

Mine, running at 30mA, is at least in the 10-15 mW range. I did an indirect power measurement compared to my 20-25 mW red pointer. Hang a garbage bag on the wall, and then (in the dark) graze the laser beam off it and watch the reflected light on the ceiling (needs to be held still). The reflected light will create a shifting pattern cuz lasers in this power range are just strong enough to start to melt the plastic without punching a hole in it. Judging by how 'animated' the patten is my pointer is probably around 15mW. It's really hard for me to estimate the power level by eye because it's just not very sensitive to it.

Click to expand...

Ya I've searched around too. I've tried entering the part number into a ton of companies web searches. I know another forum member measured this diode at 10mW at 35mA. These are so rediculously sensitive I wouldn't doubt them varying that much.

Re: Xbox HD DVD Laser

are the pinout like the red diodes?