LD from 40x CD-ROM reader - worth the harvest?

I acquired an old Dell server that I'm salvaging for parts.

The optical drive that came with it is a Samsung CD-Master 40E (Model SC-140) CD-ROM drive, manufactured in October 1999. I believe it's a 40x. Read only.

I know this is an IR diode. And I know about the IR dangers and proper eye protection....

My question is this:

Is this LD worth harvesting for anything?

I'm not worried about it burning stuff. But could it be used to make a DIY greenie (for the learning experience)? Or is there another useful purpose for an IR diode?

If it is worth harvesting, what sort of output could one get from a 40x, provided a proper driver is used?

Thanks for everyone's input on this. I just don't want to waste my time on a 10-year old diode if it isn't worth it.

It's worthless. You'd get like 1mW most if you made a green with that. Don't waste your time and trash it.

Definitely not powerful enough to be worth the hassle. CD rom drives and even CD burners have rather weak IR laser diodes that only output a few milliwatts, but be careful, they're still strong enough to blind you permanently!

If you really want to experiment with IR, I suggest you look up 1 watt IR diodes on eBay... you could find one in the $30/$40 range... and that puts out some serious stuff!

Another way is to disassemble a cheap green module from DX, and pop off the slug with the DPSS crystal, (my picture on the right) that will give you a 250 mW to 500 mW IR laser (unfocused, so you'll have to find some IR-compatible optics if you wan to turn it into a burner laser.

Robert

OK guys, thanks for letting me know. It sounds like it's totally NOT worth anything, so I won't worry about it.

I was just curious if I could harvest it to put towards learning about crystals and greenies. But not with this particular drive's diode.

Thank you!