WTB: 405nm or 445nm high power LDs (1.5w+) and lenses

Looking for blue LDs and lenses for a cnc build.
I really need one, but could get 2-3 LD's just in case I fubar on my controller.
(They will be run by a TTL modulated regulator so I have to get that right or they will pop, thus good to have more than one hehe.)

Shipping would be to Norway and I would like it to be tracked.
Payment via paypal.

If anyone is slaughtering M140's I'd be interested.

Other industrial modules are also of interest, like 5W RED etc, although my understanding is shorter wavelength will absorb better on clear material I may want to cut.

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes
this site has the latest 9mm diodes which are much more efficient and people are getting upwards of 3W output from a single diode..
comes with a single mode high quality lens, you'll need a lens barrell for it, Just PM DTR Hes your guy!

sinner said:

https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes
this site has the latest 9mm diodes which are much more efficient and people are getting upwards of 3W output from a single diode..
comes with a single mode high quality lens, you'll need a lens barrell for it, Just PM DTR Hes your guy!

Click to expand...

Thanks sinner. That certainly looks interesting.

My cnc currently runns with a 12X DVD/RW diode and can cut 3mm depron nicely although not very fast. Getting up to 500mW-1W would make a drastic improvement and at 1.5W I should be able to do thicker depron and maby even some other stuff. Going past 2W would be excellent but I am not sure I get as much for the buck. I see the M140's go for $45-55 and The 9mm's are double that.
I already have a TEC-system on the CNC and run the LD at 15c which appears to give me a few extra % power. If I went to 9mm LD I could do up a new cold-block for it integrating the thread for the lense assy I guess. Would be cool. (Literally)

At a tad lower power than max this LD should be fairly long lived and robust right? Like running it at 1.6A would give a tad of a headroom in case of overswing on the modulation. (CNC turns it on/off very fast as it moves around on small details or dithered artwork.)

Here is a great link I give to all my customers that come asking about a M140 for CNC builds.

Laser 530

Here is why 500mW 405 is probably a better option in most cases than a 2W 445 for this type of application.:beer:

"I was unable to focus the 445nm to a pinpoint as small as the 405nm. If I had to estimate it would be 0.4 - 0.6mm 'dot' for the 445nm vs a 0.1 - 0.2mm pin for the 405nm. Let's run with that:

405nm dot has a surface area of about 0.13mm^2 (using 0.2mm diameter)
445nm dot has a surface area of about 0.79mm^2 (using 0.5mm diameter)

Assume the 405nm (200mA) puts out at 225mW
Assume the 445nm (700mA) puts out 500mW

405nm delivers 225mW/0.13mm^2 = 1730mW / mm^2
445nm delivers 500mW/0.79mm^2 = 633mW / mm^2"

DTR said:

Here is a great link I give to all my customers that come asking about a M140 for CNC builds.

Laser 530

Here is why 500mW 405 is probably a better option in most cases than a 2W 445 for this type of application.:beer:

"I was unable to focus the 445nm to a pinpoint as small as the 405nm. If I had to estimate it would be 0.4 - 0.6mm 'dot' for the 445nm vs a 0.1 - 0.2mm pin for the 405nm. Let's run with that:

405nm dot has a surface area of about 0.13mm^2 (using 0.2mm diameter)
445nm dot has a surface area of about 0.79mm^2 (using 0.5mm diameter)

Assume the 405nm (200mA) puts out at 225mW
Assume the 445nm (700mA) puts out 500mW

405nm delivers 225mW/0.13mm^2 = 1730mW / mm^2
445nm delivers 500mW/0.79mm^2 = 633mW / mm^2"

Click to expand...

I thought you actually wanted some distance between the LD and the target to get a longer "depth of focus". I notice that with my current LD from a DVD-RW drive. If I focus it for a very short distance The distance with good focus will be only 1/2 mm or so making it quite useless for cutting through 3-6mm thick foam sheets. The increased distance between target and laser will increase spot size, but increases depth of focus too.

I am unsure how the LD's compare to my current ones though.
Also, since my current ones are RED I have poor absorption especially on white, light and clear materials. I am currently using standard aixis plastic lense and cutting well at a distance of around 3" with 208 mA current.

I think moving to 445 or 405nm will be an improvement by itself due to the better absorption at this wavelength.

The raw beam size or radiating element size will then be a major factor for focus/spot size as you mention. Since I don't know what I have it is very hard to assess how it will compare.

I did a quick test on my current laser with high speed just to see the trace in some blackened acetate. (Quickly with a black sharpie, thus the uneven covering, but it appears black to the naked eye and the laser.)

See attached image.
The distance noted is from edge of aixiz module with lense protruding ahead of this. That is why I start at 10mm.

I let the CNC run vertically down to create a start-point and then slant up 80mm during a 150mm travel. (8/15 ratio between lengths we see and the travel that generated it.)
Ignore the slanted dots created as this is due to me not mounting and calibrating laser properly, I just slapped it on for the test.
(In a calibrated system the dot would be a single point and not elongated.)
Also ignore the fact that the dots don't line up as the position of the screw in lense will move the point due to it shifting sideways. Normally the focus is not changed so the position does not change during operation.

I changed the focus from closest to far 1 turn pr step.
Closest focus was with lense 1 turn in from initial insert or the spring will kick it back out.

You can see how the DOF increases. The dof is ofcource relative only as I denote it as the range where it strips laquer-color from the acetate.
Since I would be working with 6mm foam in most cases I'd want a DOF where it cuts of more than 6mm. When I work with the very thick stuff I'd need 12mm.

There is no discernable change in the width of the cut so I can only assume I didn't run fast enough and so the corona of the beam also aided in the cut.
None of the cuts went though the acetate at this speed. (1000mm/min)

Since the site only allows 800x600 pics I attached a small one.
Full image can be seen here: http://kreature.org/projects/laser/focus_test_1.jpg

So how did things end up?

I need to cut ~2000mm/min in thin silicon ~0.1mm thick, so depth of field shouldn't matter too much. I want a spot size of <5 microns. The 445nm laser should be able to focus quite similarly to the 405nm laser, if you consider the diffraction limit being the wavelength, they're very close (45nm apart).

I am pretty bad with optics, but I feel like this should only take 1 or 2 lenses... but which ones :/