Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm +/-.001nm Laser Guide Star

Was looking at some interesting news releases from CNI and found this one from March 2015.

CNI makes a lot of laser and optic related items not shown on their web site.
Since there has been so much talk about CNI yellow pointers here is a little about the CNI mother of yellow pointers.

A laser guide star is an artificial star image created in the atmosphere with a laser for use in astronomical adaptive optics imaging.
The CNI 589.159nm laser is used to create a sodium beacon type guide star by energizing a layer of sodium atoms that is naturally present in the mesosphere at an altitude of around 90 kilometers. Those sodium atoms then re-emit the laser light, producing a glowing artificial star. Unbelievable, awesome, and amazing right? Creation of an artifical star in the sky at 90,000 meters altitude with a yellow laser. Now THAT is what I call, pointing out a star in the sky!

See more about this pointer and a nice CNI Video here: CNI high pulse energy 589.159nm laser for laser guide star(LGS) - Changchun New Industries Optoelectronics Tech.Co., - News and press releases

CNI Data Sheet .pdf HPL-589.159-Q/0.2~1.2mJ/1~6W LD PUMPED ALL-SOLID-STATE AOM Q-SWITCHED LASER See: http://www.cnilaser.com/PDF/HPL-589.159-Q.pdf

See article about Laser Guide Stars here along with some great pictures of yellow guide stars in action/operation at bottom of the page, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_guide_star

Specifications:
Model:HPL-589-Q
Wavelength (nm): 589.159±0.001
Operating mode: Q-switched: AOM (Acousto-Optic Modulation)
Single pulse energy (mJ): 1.2mJ@5kHz
Pulse duration (ns): ~150
Peak power (kW): 8
Rep. rate (kHz): 4~6, adjustable
Average power (W): 1~6@5kHz, typical
Ave power stability (over 4 hours): <3%, <5%
Warm-up time (minutes): <15
Beam divergence, full angle (mrad): <3.0
Beam diameter at the aperture (mm): ~10.0
Beam height from base plate (mm): 90
Cooled method : Water Cooled
Operating temperature (℃): 15~35
Power supply (220/110VAC): PSU-HPL-Q(8U)
Expected lifetime (hours): 10000
Warranty period: 1 year

Re: Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm Laser Guide Star

They do make a 50W Q switched 589nm system to .

Re: Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm Laser Guide Star

ionlaser555 said:

They do make a 50W Q switched 589nm system to .

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Yes they do---they offer a standard model within range of 10W to 50W
Same model number HPL-589-Q but lower tolerance spec 589nm + or - 1nm as a standard available model

Am sure could be special ordered as a special make up laser with the same tight spec 589.159nm + or - .001nm as in the laser guide star system version if desired/needed.

HPL-589-Q/3-10mJ/10~50W - up to 50W, 589 nm water cooled actively Q-switched pulse laser see: HPL-589-Q/3-10mJ/10~50W - up to 10mJ, 589 nm water cooled actively Q-switched pulse laser

Re: Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm Laser Guide Star

I was just reading about them again last night. Fascinating. Thanks for the CNI video .
I'd +rep you, but apparently I already have.

Re: Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm Laser Guide Star

This is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing

Re: Serious Yellow - CNI HPL-589-Q, 8kW, 589.159nm Laser Guide Star

noobphaser215 said:

This is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing

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Thanks for the Thanks/kind word but that is the purpose of LPF --- a place to post about lasers and laser related things & concerns.

Is such an amazing thing/meaningful practical applcation to be able to do--create an artificial star in the atmosphere with a yellow laser ---was sure LPF members would have a look and enjoy knowing if they didn't already about same--especialy with all the threads amd posts about yellow lasers in recent months.

Have a look at the CNI Video--is very Chinese and a little rough but tells a lot about CNI which is a much bigger company than most people think. They are the laser industry leader in China --- big facilitie,s about 500 people, and they make and sell all manner of laser, optical, and crystal products not on their web site. They have come a long way since founding in 1996. Exports to 120 Countries --sales in the 10s of millions of dollars excluding laser pointer sales from that figure altogether

Here is a page with video link at top and a sampling of CNI products that most people are not aware of in main body of page : Changchun New Industries Optoelectronics Tech.Co.,: Electricity - Electronics - Optics - DirectIndustry

I watched the video also am doing some more reading on it. This is very very interesting

noobphaser215 said:

I watched the video also am doing some more reading on it. This is very very interesting

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Agree 100%.---very very interesting manufacturer and products.

Founded in 1996, less than 20 years ago and in China -- they have absolutely demonstrated the drive, focus, people, and ability necessary to create a significant business around lasers and optics. One thing is for sure, they don't let any grass grow under their feet.

I was surprised by the range and scope or their manufacturing talent. We all know about their hand helds from Laserglow----but thier real business is larger laser systems and laser related products for laboratory, industrial, and scientific and othe business purposes.

In the CNI 10 April 2015 news release CNI details a new product, The CNI laser: Fine-LaScribe Series Diamond laser Marking System, which is a very high precision machine with great features that can laser engrave/micro-carve characters on the girdle facets of a daimond---- details as follows:
Product description:
1. Diamond micro carving machine is compact, simple operation;
2. High speed micro carving, graphics, fonts, fine lines;
3. Repeated carving, carved up, choose engraving, high repetitive positioning accuracy.
Features:
1.Using the independent research and development Q-switched lasers with international leading level; excellent beam quality, pulsed duration less than 3ns, very small thermal effect;
2. High-power beam expander and dual-band aberration focusing mirror is used in conjunction with the perfect design to a small focused spot to 5μ m ;
3. Using high precision X-Y-Z CNC electronic displacement platform, repeat positioning accuracy up to 1μm;
4.The use of laser and CCD microscopy confocal aiming optical system to display the micron engraved diamond image and laser engraved lines clearly at the same time, and the operator eyes don’t fatigue;
5.Specially designed software to input and edit any text and graphics, easy to operate;
6.Operation lifetime >20000 hours, total power consumption <200 W, air-cooled, no need to maintenance.

See additional details here: CNI laser: Fine-LaScribe Series Diamond laser Marking System - Changchun New Industries Optoelectronics Tech.Co., - News and press releases
Was surprised to find it offered on DHGate under engraving machines for $20,942.42 (the $ .42 part kills me :crackup here :
Hot Sale Cni Fine Lascribe Ir Diamond Laser Marking Unit From Cnilasersystem, $20942.41 | Dhgate.Com

I think there was a member here that used a picture similar to one of those in his avatar a few years back. That would be awesome to live near one of the stations that uses them.

Dr_Evil said:

I think there was a member here that used a picture similar to one of those in his avatar a few years back. That would be awesome to live near one of the stations that uses them.

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Encap said:

Yes, I remember also --there was one guy with that avatar.

Here are some great images of yellow guide star lasers in action at the WM Keck Observatory --- in the op there is an awesome picture showing the yellow beams reaching into the night sky and a super bright star created at the seeming end of each beam.
Would be worth a trip just to go see it do that in person.
See post # 1 in this thread: http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/w-m-keck-observatory-laser-guide-star-adaptive-optics-87084.html

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All my looking into this 589nm Laser Guide Star details and pictures in operation in night sky has made me really very much want a powerful 589nm labby if not too too too expensive.

589nm creates such an amazingly beautiful and dramatic beam!!

The problem is hand held versions are limited to 100mW----what I want is something with output and beam visibility equal to an 800mW, 532nm but in 589nm yellow---so... a labby is the only choice/way to go. But still not so easy. According to here: Relative Laser Beam Brightness Calculator: (532nm 800mw) vs. (589nm 1400mw) it would take a 1400mW, 589nm beam to be equal in brightness to a 800mW, 532nm beam .

I have asked CNI for a price on an MGL-N-589/800mW DPSS 589nm yellow laser
and also an MGL-W-589/1400mW DPSS 589nm Yellow Laser .

Will see what's what, as soon as....

NWfreefly had this for is avatar I think. I have not heard from in awhile (he lives near me). Its festy season though. Im assuming that's where he is!

Thanks for all the info and links. Some great reading!
Knew about the diamond etching years ago. It is a really good way to stop the black market in stolen diamonds as many diamonds are etched with serial numbers.
Wonder if CNI does military contracts, I imagine that they do.

Laser Chick said:

Thanks for all the info and links. Some great reading!
Knew about the diamond etching years ago. It is a really good way to stop the black market in stolen diamonds as many diamonds are etched with serial numbers.
Wonder if CNI does military contracts, I imagine that they do.

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Yes the technology has been around for a while but first time I ever saw it being sold wholesale on DHGate. I was taken aback, at first, but then thought "Why not?" a sale is a sale is a sale--in the meantime it promotes the existence of the product and CNI.
TIFFANY & Co. has been micro-engraving serial numbers and the T & Co. trademark on all of their "important diamonds" using similar laser technology for years.

I just receive back a quote for the CNI Laser Guide Star (LGS) system HPL-589.159-Q/0.2~1.2mJ/1~6W LD PUMPED ALL-SOLID-STATE AOM Q-SWITCHED LASER with HPL-PSU and water chiller for cooling laser---complete system --price was not as high as I thought it might be.

The lowest cost version, bottom of the range, price for 1 piece, CNI, HPL-589.159-Q/0.2~1.2mJ/1W with PSU and water chiller, 589nm +/ - 0.001nm, < 10% stability, is $44,000.00US FOB CNI factory/China.
Price/cost increases from there based upon mW of output power and % stability --the system is available in output powers from 1W to 6W and stability specs of <3%, <5%, and < 10%.
Interestingly, the CNI LGS system while expensive, it is not too expensive--is a very affordable system for University and College Observatories and other peopel and places that have a need or desire to have one. It is not hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars, it is just and affordable by comparison-- tens of thousands of dollars is very different from the tens of millions of dollars Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory spent creating the first 589nm Yellow Guide Star SYstem

THe first Yellow Laser Guide Star system was developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and and put into use in 1997--it was an offshoot of industrial plant sized ALVIS systems for separating isotopes.

"Atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions. In the largest technology transfer in U.S. government history, in 1994 the AVLIS process was transferred to the United States Enrichment Corporation for commercialization. However, on June 9, 1999 after a $100 million investment, USEC cancelled its AVLIS program." from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_vapor_laser_isotope_separation

"The original/first laser guide star used technology originally developed for the LIS (Laser Isotope Separation) USA national effort. The guide star begins with green light from flashlamp-pumped, solid-state lasers beneath the main floor of the telescope dome. The light travels through fiber-optic lines to a compact dye laser similar to that used in uranium enrichment. The dye laser converts the light from green to yellow, and a beam projector mounted on the telescope directs the yellow light up through the upper atmosphere.
At an altitude of about 95 kilometers, the laser beam hits the layer of sodium atoms that are continuously produced by burning micrometeorites. The light excites the sodium atoms, causing them to emit yellow light in all directions and create a sharply defined guide star." From: https://str.llnl.gov/str/Hargrove.html and here: https://str.llnl.gov/str/Guidestr.html

SO, the original Laser Guide Star involved technology from a $100 million US goverment effort and was operational in 1997 ---fast forward to today, 21 years later. For $44,000.00 anyone or organization can purchase a Laser Guide Star(LGS)System from CNI that uses 808nm IR laser diodes to pump a crystal and optics system to create a DPSS 589,159nm +/- .001nm Laser Guide Star System. IN perspective fo about the price of a 2015 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4, anyone can have their own personal Laser Guide Star System---that is as incredible as it is hard to fathom/believe .

some serious stuff here

See article about Laser Guide Stars here along with some great pictures of yellow guide stars in action/operation at bottom of the page, here: [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

I was checking observatories that use this system, and it seems Lick observatory on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, Ca. use this system. I'm about 100 miles away. They give tours. I'd love to see them light up that big yellow laser. I'll call Monday and see if that's possible.
Many thanks for showing and explaining such an interesting use for lasers.

Davidx said:

I was checking observatories that use this system, and it seems Lick observatory on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, Ca. use this system. I'm about 100 miles away. They give tours. I'd love to see them light up that big yellow laser. I'll call Monday and see if that's possible.
Many thanks for showing and explaining such an interesting use for lasers.

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Yes absolutely --by all means ---you have to go there when the Guide Star is in use and take a couple of dozen photos of the Laser Guide star in action to share wuth everyone on LPF--that would be something I think everyone would enjoy seeing!!

THe original Laser Guide Star that was a spin-off of $100 million dollars of government research and development was first installed at the Lick Observatory. It along with the adaptive deformable miror optics installed on the Lick 1meter telescope made that telescope capable of 10X higher resolution--much more accurate than ever before.