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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Tiny HeNe tubes

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I don't remember when, but I mentioned somewhere that I had some of the smallest HeNe gas laser tubes you can get, and so I finally went and took pics. All of these use a 68K ballast resistor.

First off a is the pretty much the smallest tube you can get today. It's a new tube, and it's possibly produced by melles griot for laser devices for use in old holographic gunsight prototypes. It has a very large cathode for long life times (for a small tube) and to keep the temperature down, as well as to help absorb shock against the tube walls. It is 115mm long and 15mm wide, running at about 1KV at somewhere between 3-3.8mA I haven't found its optimum yet. output is about .41mW of 632.8nm @ 3.7mA.

LDHeNe_zpsfac186e2.jpg


The next is the famous 05-LHR-001 by Melles Griot! hailed as the smallest of the Helium Neon lasers widely available, there appears to be a discrepancy, I've heard of two tubes that have this number, but are totally different, so apparently this model has undergone a revision to make it more modern at some point? the original is a micro tube much like the LD one above, but has no cathode can, just an aluminum stub, and is sectioned off about a third of the way down. its rated for non-continuous operation, for a barcode scanner.

This one that I have is a bit wider and a tad longer, sitting at 145mm long and 20mm in diameter. It was born September of 1992, and still works great, with a staggering 1.3-1.4mW from such a tiny tube! This thing is quite a beast, as its only rated to do about 0.4mW. Also, surprisingly, for a MG tube, it also lacks a getter electrode and outputs out the anode end, instead of the cathode. Output is 632.8nm also @ TEM00, running at 1400VDC @3.8mA, with an 8KV start.

05-LHR-001-238_zps50e4fd90.jpg


Which, leads me to the next one...The other orange tube I've been hiding. it is the same as the above LHR-001, the LOR-006 has the same structure as its sister tube, but a slightly wider bore likely, and it does have a getter, likely to help ensure purity. It is supposed to be a multi-mode tube, but this one doesn't seem to be. It's rather Gaussian TEM00, running at the same power and specs as its sister tube-1400VDC @ 3.8mA, with an 8KV start. This is quite possibly the smallest 611.9nm tube in existence, sitting on a strong .5mW of orange.

05-LOR-006_zps07c939c9.jpg


and at last...a pic of the whole group, with a white artist's eraser for some size comparison. (and to keep the rascally LD tube from running away and falling off my desk. :whistle:)

TinyHeNetubes_zps78cd0a1c.jpg


Hope you all enjoyed!
 
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Nice pics :)

I've got a Unit 1007 that I still need to get a PSU for... I know it works though. I can get plasma, and the occasional dot if I use a spark plug on it (the kind in electric lighters).

108mm tube, 150mm from coating to coating. 24-25mm wide.

On to the MG 001:

Sam said:
The 05-LHR-001 was believed to be the smallest (at least by volume) tube Melles Griot ever sold. It only had a small aluminum stub for a cathode and was intended for intermittent operation in a barcode scanner. No spec sheet has turned up but it appeared to be the same design as the 05-LHR-625, whose specs were listed. However, now a tube with an 05-LHR-001 label has been found and it is similar to a boring 05-LHR-006. So the above may not be correct.
 
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Nice pics :)

I've got a Unit 1007 that I still need to get a PSU for... I know it works though. I can get plasma, and the occasional dot if I use a spark plug on it (the kind in electric lighters).

4.25" tube, just under 6" from coating to coating.

So about the same size then. Its hard to get power supplies for these for cheap. Pics! lets see it bloom! Also, if any of you also wanna add yours feel free! I love seeing these tiny HeNe tubes.
 
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Wow, that LD tube is incredibly small...+rep for a great thread :)
I didn't know such tiny tubes existed, its pretty amazing that they could be made that small!
 
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Odd fact. the LD tube is the same size as my right pointer finger. Its kinda fun, like a pocket HeNe...if there ever truly was to be such a thing.
 
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Nice, cute little HeNes.

If you ever sell any of these... :crackup: you know where I am, although I doubt you would sell these treasures.
 
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Nice, cute little HeNes.

If you ever sell any of these... :crackup: you know where I am, although I doubt you would sell these treasures.

Yeah, even if I get out of the hobby, I don't think I'll get rid of these. I'd have to be desperate for money to be rid of these. The orange is cool as hell for being so small. I'd also like to note all these tubes are NOS (new old stock) so they're in great shape, though i need to clean the LD one, the anode is getting kinda nasty. nothing a lil methonol shouldn't fix though.
 
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You asked, and you shall receive :)

It's bigger on my screen than real life xD

I want to make one of these portable, with external mirrors. For a portable ML HeNe. Would be kinda cool.

IMG_0991.jpg
 
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Heh, i imagine at one point there was some engineer working on making these teensy tubes, stressing over it all day, then some lab assistant walks in and is like
"Hey Bob, check out this new laser DIODE! Its only a few millimeters long and outputs 5x as much as that little HeNe you are making!"
and he replies,
"WHAT?!?! F$#@ THIS!" and flips the desk over and storms out
 
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Heh, i imagine at one point there was some engineer working on making these teensy tubes, stressing over it all day, then some lab assistant walks in and is like
"Hey Bob, check out this new laser DIODE! Its only a few millimeters long and outputs 5x as much as that little HeNe you are making!"
and he replies,
"WHAT?!?! F$#@ THIS!" and flips the desk over and storms out

What's interesting about that, is that I used to believe scientists were all formal and serious in nature.

I've noticed a totally different reality in myself and others.

I curse like a sailor...

Kaiser, do you ever plan to make one of these tubes portable?
 
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Perhaps. The LD tube kinda is. It makes a great alignment laser too, the divergence is superb for a small tube. I'd hope so too given how expensive it is/was.

On the note of the lhr-001, I know what tube sam was referring to, I've seen it, but I have no idea as to what it is either. Quite odd looking.
 
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djQUAN

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Has anyone tried powering one of these off of CCFL inverters? Is it possible?
 
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you could, but for details I'll defer you to Sam's FAQ. the tube runs on DC but you can base a PS off of the inverter, finding parts to do that might be a bit difficult though.
 
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I've always loved the bore glow on HeNe lasers!
Great find!
Alas I have never had the chance to owned one.
Maybe it's time I find one on ebay! :beer:

Great post with pics.
 
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Has anyone tried powering one of these off of CCFL inverters? Is it possible?

Yes, completely possible.
Backlight ccfl inverters have nearly the same power output as
HeNe laser supplies. However you'll need a starting pulse to get the tube to
Fire up. BBQ starter will suffice for that.
 




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