Pulsed Ruby Laser Head

Up for sale is a complete Hughes ruby laser rangefinder assembly from a M60 tank. This is a medium sized flash lamp pumped pulsed q-switched ruby laser which emits 694nm. It is one of the only lasers of this type which emits visible light. This laser will give a 50mJ pulse with a 10-20uS duration.

This is the complete system including the rod, lamp and holder, the entire cavity including q-switch, and the first lens of the beam expander. There is a ton of information about running this on the Laser-FAQ. It is about as difficult to get going as a SSY-1 system, you can even use the same pulse forming network.

Because of the visible wavelength, this laser makes an amazing output which can be easily detected without the use of a IR-Detector card.

This laser is in perfect condition and will perform great for the new owner. I would like to get $350 for the laser, however, reasonable offers are available.

Would a beamshot be possible with this? I know it's not the typical beam that we are used to taking pics of.

millirad said:

Would a beamshot be possible with this? I know it's not the typical beam that we are used to taking pics of.

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It would be a chance shot if it was possible to get. I have taken pictures of pulsed lasers, and it is not easy. So to answer your question, no.

BEN, YOU CANNOT LEGALLY EXPORT THAT LASER!

STEVE

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Just in case anyone never knew ....

$250 to whoever wants it.

Laser_Ben said:

It would be a chance shot if it was possible to get. I have taken pictures of pulsed lasers, and it is not easy. So to answer your question, no.

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What's the separation between pulses? Couldn't you just take a long-exposure picture in a dark room?

So if you can't get a beamshot, can you see the beam at all?

-Mark

Complete unit ready to run with power supply, etc?

@Mark, you can see the beam, but ruby lasers don't pulse all that fast, so catching the beam is a craps shoot. A time exposure might work. 694nm is nearly into the infrared, so the beam will be harder to see than an LPC, but it is visible and very powerful. You should have no problem punching through various substances including razor blades if you've got everything put together right..

@liverock:
It's a little more complicated than a typical lab-style laser. Rather than having a power supply, it has a system not unlike a huge camera flash strobe circuit called a pulse-forming network. This generates a large energy pulse that is used to create an arc in a large flashlamp which is enclosed next to a ruby rod inside a reflective cavity. When the flashlamp arcs, it causes stimulated emission in the ruby which emits a large pulse of 694nm photons, which bounce between the mirrors, etc... until a nice beam exits. It's not at all unheard of for pulsed systems like this to achieve many kilowatts of power output for a brief instant.

To answer your question, I don't think that the PFN is included in this deal, but you can get it from Meredith Instruments quite easily.

ElektroFreak said:

@Mark, you can see the beam, but these kinds of ruby lasers don't pulse all that fast, so catching the beam is a crap shoot. A time exposure might work. 694nm is nearly into the infrared, so the beam will be harder to see than an LPC, but it is visible and very powerful. You should have no problem punching through various substances including razor blades if you've got everything put together right..

@liverock:
It's a little more complicated than a typical lab-style laser. Rather than having a power supply, it has a system not unlike a huge camera flash strobe circuit called a pulse-forming network. This generates a large energy pulse that is used to create an arc in a large flashlamp which is enclosed next to a ruby rod inside a reflective cavity. When the flashlamp arcs, it causes stimulated emission in the ruby which emits a large pulse of 694nm photons, which bounce between the mirrors, etc... until a nice beam exits. It's not at all unheard of for pulsed systems like this to achieve many kilowatts of power output for a brief instant.

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As you mentioned, this laser is just the complete head, you provide your own power supply. There is a ton of info on how to run these on the LaserFAQ and I would be happy to help out the buyer.

This laser can pulse at up to ~10hZ with appropriate cooling (fan blowing), it is air cooled, so you are limited there. You can put about 125J into the lamp, so it will take some serious power.

I think you can DIY build a PFN, if you want ..... after all, are just 5 or 6 LC circuits in series (can use also 10, depend how long you want the pulse)

But considerate that driving a cavity with a PFN, significantly reduces the repetition rate (frequency) at which you can pulse the laser, cause the high amount of heath generated from the system ..... if you need single pulses, then a PFN can help you having long pulses (long in term of pulsed cavities, anyway ) with high energy, if instead you want high frequency pulses, you can just use an RLC circuit (shorter pulses)

Also, considerate one thing ..... if the cavity include a passive q-switch (crystal), if you go too much over the rated power, you quickly destroy it.

For precise applications, need to keep all inside the given parameters, for high power pulses, need to remove the q-switch and sacrificate the pulse precision (but, before touch the q-switch, be sure that it's independent from the cavity ..... i done this with an old SSY1 unit, but just cause the q-switch was completely independent from the resonant cavity)

Ah, hell, if i was not in Italy, that unit was tempting me too ..... but here, no way to get it, no matter what you do ..... i'm 100% sure that it become confiscated at custom office (not speaking how much it will cost to ship it here in a safe way)

^these units have a mechanical q-switch, very durable.

ElektroFreak said:

^these units have a mechanical q-switch, very durable.

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Yep, the q-switch is probably the easiest to use other then a chemical one. It is simply a spinning prism which reflects the beam back completing the cavity one time every rotation. It has a hall sensor for synchronizing the output with the pulse if you want.

$200 for a fast sale!!! It's a damn pulsed kilowatt level red laser!

Laser_Ben, if you only was in Italy, that unit was already sold ..... why we have to have so damn stupid custom offices :gun: :cryyy:

No Mr. Bond, I want you to die.



Someone buy this!

Sorry for this post, but did anyone buy this!? i would love one of these but cannot find one