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Building a Green Laser - First Try

Braddubya

Braddubya

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Id like to try my hand at building a green laser. Ive read several tutorials and get all the basics.

My question is however concerning practicality. Is it a realistic goal to DIY a 200mW green with a decent beam quality? I know what I need and I know quality comes down to crystals and alignment etc but with enough tinkering is it doable for a first timer or is it extremely difficult?

Id like to beat the quality of the cheap china lasers....so I havent set the bar too high I dont think.
 





Coherent Light

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You can produce a very good green if you can get your hands on a quality module. Check out what's for sell on the forum. with any luck you'll find what you need.
 
Braddubya

Braddubya

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Coherent Light said:
You can produce a very good green if you can get your hands on a quality module. Check out what's for sell on the forum. with any luck you'll find what you need.
Click to expand...

You mean a preassembled module?

Im talking about a DIY module where I buy a 808nm and mount the crystals in front of it.

I have some broken ebay greenies I can rip the crystals out of to experiment with. Anyone know how high these can be driven with assuming decent heat sinking?
 
Coherent Light

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The alignment of the crystals is not an easy task. It can be done, but a more experienced member can better advise you on the how to, as I've never gone that route.
 
RA_pierce

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Is your goal to build a pointer or a labby?

With a pointer, it will be best to stick with a bonded crystal set for compactness.
Assuming you want to go that route, check the link in my signature next to the "Frankenstein" greenie.
 
Braddubya

Braddubya

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Im open to anything. I would prefer handheld but if it would be quite a bit cheaper or easier to go labby I could go the route as well.

Id love to get 200mW of green but im not sure I can justify the price of the necessary crystals...how high can the o-likes be driven? I see it says >200mW but if thats IR then thats like 50mW green.


the laser in your sig is awesome!
 
Braddubya

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for now im going to mess with the crystals and optics found in cheap newwish greenies.

If I replace the IR diode with a more powerful one and mess with alignment etc can a higher power be achieved? has anyone done this?
 
RA_pierce

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Braddubya said:
for now im going to mess with the crystals and optics found in cheap newwish greenies.

If I replace the IR diode with a more powerful one and mess with alignment etc can a higher power be achieved? has anyone done this?
Click to expand...

Yes, it can be done. ;)

The O-like crystals will be challenging to set up. The KTP and Nd:YVO4 are separate optics and must be aligned very precisely with the diode and output coupler if >200mW is to be achieved.

I believe there is still a thread (stickied in the green lasers section) about someone's success getting green light out of some O-like crystals.
 
Braddubya

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I read through that one and its full of useful info. Im gunna play around with some cheap stuff I have on hand for now.

What kind of IR power can I put in place of the stock diode in a newwish greenie? 500mW? I would imagine they are already running close to 200mW since they are always overspec and probably very inefficient
 
jayrob

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Hopefully someone can chime in on that. I don't know enough about DPSS to give you an accurate answer...

But I know that there is more involved than the power of the pump diode. It is the quality and the alignment of the crystals...
 
Braddubya

Braddubya

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jayrob said:
Hopefully someone can chime in on that. I don't know enough about DPSS to give you an accurate answer...

But I know that there is more involved than the power of the pump diode. It is the quality and the alignment of the crystals...
Click to expand...

With some tinkering I bet I can align them better than the manufacturer whose mass producing them at $3 a pop. Combine that with maxing out the IR input and I bet she can get pretty bright!

they sometimes already run up to 50mW id be happy if I could hit 100mW or even 75mW using a stronger diode and alignment tweaking.



If I run the IR too high will it just not lase? Or can I actually damage the crystals with way 1W IR?
 
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Braddubya

Braddubya

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jayrob said:
Yes, I believe the crystals size and quality are important for the power...

Read some information here:
Sam's Laser FAQ - Home-Built Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) Laser
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link....wealth of information to be had there for sure :beer:


has anyone done this? Im willing to experiment but id like to know if its worth my time and money to get a 1W diode or if thats way too much (burnout crystals) and a 500mW or 300mW diode would be more appropriate...
 
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