Hi,
I am not a laser expert/hobbyist, but for a research project it turns out I will need need a steady source of inexpensive ($20-ish or less) and reliable <5mW 488 and/or 532 nm laser diodes (as close to 5mW as possible). I have tried purchasing several from Amazon, Digikey and other sites, but all of the ones I have found are either expensive, break easily, or turn out to be >5mW when they arrive (which poses serious safety concerns for us). Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally something that looks sort of like this, but good quality and with faster shipping.
To clarify, I am not looking for a fully-built laser pointer; just the diode and possibly the driver chip that would come with it. I've noticed that most of the commercial laser diodes we've seen come with two lenses built-in (to expand the beam?). Those are good, and it would be great if they were included.
Thank you so much in advance!
I am not a laser expert/hobbyist, but for a research project it turns out I will need need a steady source of inexpensive ($20-ish or less) and reliable <5mW 488 and/or 532 nm laser diodes (as close to 5mW as possible). I have tried purchasing several from Amazon, Digikey and other sites, but all of the ones I have found are either expensive, break easily, or turn out to be >5mW when they arrive (which poses serious safety concerns for us). Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally something that looks sort of like this, but good quality and with faster shipping.
To clarify, I am not looking for a fully-built laser pointer; just the diode and possibly the driver chip that would come with it. I've noticed that most of the commercial laser diodes we've seen come with two lenses built-in (to expand the beam?). Those are good, and it would be great if they were included.
Thank you so much in advance!
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