- Joined
- Sep 16, 2007
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- 113
I got bored today after class, so I came home and decided not to do homework.
I opened my drawer and took a look at the Galileo module and decided I wanted the pump diode (this was only outputting less than a half milliWatt of green). So I removed the driver, took out the diode and examined the internals. It seems that there are several lenses (AR coated for 808) and some little crystals (maybe 1mmx1mm... compared to the crystals in my X105 module these are small).
Anyway, I pressed the diode into a brass housing (for 5.6mm diodes) from my long dead red pointer (from the '90s), hooked the diode up to my diode test batteries (3 small button cells) and confirmed that the diode was lasing. When I added an extra battery, it projected a visible dark red dot on a matte black surface. Apparently this diode is working great, so I assumed the cause of my Galileo's malfunction was most likely related to the driver or the crystals.
I decided I wanted to make a pointer out of this diode so I hooked it up to a different red pointer's driver (actually more like a push button and resistor) and stuffed it all inside the pen host that I will eventually revive with a new 5mW red module (when my shipment from Aixiz arrives).
The result was a low powered (probably 5-10mW) 808nm near IR laser pointer. It collimates pretty well in the red laser pen module and in the dark you can see a faint little red dot.
It's pretty lame, but it's just something to kill time before my Aixiz parts get here. With a real driver this diode could probably output at least 100mW.
All my other projects ended up cooked because I like to slip and short out the diode/driver so this is the only project that lasted more than 5 minutes.
I'll blame it on the shitty soldering iron.
Here are some crappy cellphone pictures... I'm sure it would be a lot brighter with a camcorder on night vision mode or something, but this is all I've got for now:
I opened my drawer and took a look at the Galileo module and decided I wanted the pump diode (this was only outputting less than a half milliWatt of green). So I removed the driver, took out the diode and examined the internals. It seems that there are several lenses (AR coated for 808) and some little crystals (maybe 1mmx1mm... compared to the crystals in my X105 module these are small).
Anyway, I pressed the diode into a brass housing (for 5.6mm diodes) from my long dead red pointer (from the '90s), hooked the diode up to my diode test batteries (3 small button cells) and confirmed that the diode was lasing. When I added an extra battery, it projected a visible dark red dot on a matte black surface. Apparently this diode is working great, so I assumed the cause of my Galileo's malfunction was most likely related to the driver or the crystals.
I decided I wanted to make a pointer out of this diode so I hooked it up to a different red pointer's driver (actually more like a push button and resistor) and stuffed it all inside the pen host that I will eventually revive with a new 5mW red module (when my shipment from Aixiz arrives).
The result was a low powered (probably 5-10mW) 808nm near IR laser pointer. It collimates pretty well in the red laser pen module and in the dark you can see a faint little red dot.
It's pretty lame, but it's just something to kill time before my Aixiz parts get here. With a real driver this diode could probably output at least 100mW.
All my other projects ended up cooked because I like to slip and short out the diode/driver so this is the only project that lasted more than 5 minutes.
I'll blame it on the shitty soldering iron.
Here are some crappy cellphone pictures... I'm sure it would be a lot brighter with a camcorder on night vision mode or something, but this is all I've got for now:
