Laser pointer "oscillation" frequency

Hi all.

I am designing a photodetector array for a high speed data acquisition system. In order to test the device I used commercially available red and green laser pointers, and I found out to my surprise that the laser light was switching on and off at ~150kHz (red) and ~450kHz (green). I thought that such a switching at a high frequency could help saving power, but I am quite skeptical.

Is this kind of switching common with laser pointers? Or should I go back and check my sensor for problems?

Thanks in advance.

I have heard of some manufacturers using pulsed drivers
for their laser pointers... but that is NOT common...

I would recheck the sensor.... You can test it with an LED on
a pure DC source..

You can turn on your laser and scan it across the room from
extreme left to extreme right quite quickly...
If the Laser is pulsed you should see the beam broken and
not solid...


Jerry

What are you using for sensors? Photodiodes, LEDs, or recievers? Photoreciever modules may be your problem. Try re-design with a phototransistor array (bridge) feeding a low gain op-amp (or, you could use low biased LEDs feeding a moderate to high gain op-amp as your reciever).

Only some blue DPSS and some OLD green pointers are pulsed.

lasersbee said:

If the Laser is pulsed you should see the beam broken and
not solid...

Click to expand...

Not at 450KHz you wouldn't.

Mr paragon,

A un, or poorly, filtered switching supply?? Just guessing...

Did you properly reverse bias your photodetector array? If not, the photo cells are operating in photovoltic mode and with stray capacitance and a high impedance meter/scope you may be getting false readings.