blue laser pointer

Hello, all. New to forums. been reading/ searching and couldn't find a good answer-
Is there a way to get an actual blue (445-472ish) laser pointer that is less that 5 mW? I'd like one for presentations I have to do, and just because I'd like one, but I don't want to have to worry about fried retinas from me or the audience.

I do work at a university with an excellent optical sciences department, so I can check the laser output-it seems that many of the '<5mW' ones have a reputation for being more powerful than listed.

Is there a decent supplier of these things?

TY all,

Mike

Hey bud,

LaserGlow is one such supplier. Their supplier is CNI & they quality test every pointer to make sure they are under 5mW so don't expect them to be cheap. Links below

447nm Hydra <5mW:
Laserglow Technologies

(If you have the cash to spare)473nm Aquarius <5mW:
Laserglow Technologies

-Alex

You can get 473nm blues in 1-5mW ranges, but it'll cost big bucks.

Alternatively, you can have 450nm 100mW diodes. Not sure how your projector setup is like where you keep your presentations, so you need to make sure it's not too bright and distracting.

No worries about it being too dim, though.

Thanks-
its ironic that lower power costs so much more. It seems like almost everyone else here is aiming for bigger/brighter.

Can you underpower a 450 100mW to <5?

drmyk said:

Thanks-
its ironic that lower power costs so much more. It seems like almost everyone else here is aiming for bigger/brighter.

Can you underpower a 450 100mW to <5?

Click to expand...

Doubt it, maybe to 50 or so.

Don't sweat it. 5mW is not a universe-hardcoded limit for laser power before which people's eyes explode out of their a$$, as much as some promotional material might make it seem so.

50 mW point for a presentation is fine.

There are 5mW 450nm diodes. LaserBTB sells pointers that use them: link
LaserBTB is very reliable, myself and many others here can attest to that

According to the datasheet, the PL450B does about 40-45mW at threshhold, 60mA worst case. That
would be very useable as a pointer. If you go with the PL450, which are still available, that will do a little
less. I'm not sure about visibility of these wavelengths at lower power levels. You might need 45mW just
to get decent visibility.

DTR has the PL450B. For the PL450, check out the seller techhood on eBay.