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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

de-windowed NDG700

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Jul 5, 2013
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So, earlier today, I started to play around with my "Big Grass Hopper" build, which uses the NDG700, and the window of the diode suddenly got dirty for no reason. Well, I thought it was dirty, and i wish i had a picture of it. So i did my normal cleaning procedure: I grabbed a couple of cotton swabs and some alcohol solution. When i tried cleaning the window, there was no avail. (this is where i really screwed up.) I forgot to take the batteries out of the unit, and when the cotton swab touched the window, i accidentally turned the laser on. :eek: Then the laser window was smoldered from smoke. Fortunately, it didn't kill the laser, but the window was damaged causing the laser to emit a disturbing beam. :thinking: thinking to myself, did i just mess up a $315 diode? I couldn't, that would not wrap around my mind that easily. I almost freaked out a little, when thinking that my laser will not output a nice beam anymore. :*( I spent a whole 30 minutes trying to clean the window hoping it would work again. And then suddenly the laser beam looked clean. But it looked unusually clean. Apparently the window disappeared/popped off the mount and now i have a de-windowed laser diode.

Will this affect the laser diode's life expectancy now that there is no window?
 





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It won't affect life just missing the window- now, the window rattling around inside the can could cause trouble. I would decan it entirely if I were you.
 

3Pig

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I feel pure pain by reading this :( I was incredibly disappointed when I killed my 35 dollar mitsu..

Best of luck trying to fix it, really hope you don't kill it.
 

BowtieGuy

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Npr, sorry to hear this. If you decide to decan the "big Grass Hopper", keep us informed on how it went, and what procedure you used.
I'm about to try to try the same thing for the first time, on a much less expensive PL450B diode. Just waiting on a Flaimpyro extraction tool.
 

DTR

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Oh man that really sucks. Yea I would be worried about the missing window. If it is floating around in the can it can damage the bond wires. Best to decan it at this point and get the loose window out of there. Anyway you look at it this is not a great situation as the diode is certainly at risk now.:(
 
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Thanks everybody for your concern,m I would be happy to de-can the laser diode but I don't know how to, I may have to do a little bit of research of how to do it.

@dtr the bond wires shouldn't be in any danger, what I'm slightly worried that the glass may affect the junction material of the laser die, if it rattles in there, too much.
 
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Here is the diode with out the window, it may be hard to tell

imagejpg1_zpsdf40e4ed.jpg

It sucks that this had to happened with such an expensive diode, if this was a generic 445nm diode, I would have not really cared as much. At least this didn't turn into a $440 paper weight :whistle:.

Also I never had a problem of the piece of glass reaching the front and then impairing the beam. Thank goodness for the 9mm structure, at least it gives it some room to move around..
 

djQUAN

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I once removed a dislodged window without decanning by facing the diode down.
Shaking it around and once I saw the corner of the dislodged window pop out, grabbed it with a tweezer and pulled. It cracked, pieces fell out and the diode die was unharmed. Further shaking removed all other pieces from inside the case. YMMV (disclaimer: you do it at your own risk, I was lucky at the time)
 

rhd

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It won't affect life just missing the window- now, the window rattling around inside the can could cause trouble. I would decan it entirely if I were you.

Why do you say that?

520s are InGaN. Won't they degrade with access to the air?
 
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Guys, decanning was unsuccessful, it think the laser is permanently damaged now

This is very unfortunate to happene with such a great diode, now I have to buy another one but I don't have the spendable funds for it as of right now :(
 
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Why do you say that?

520s are InGaN. Won't they degrade with access to the air?

I didn't even think of that- I was thinking about the window possibly damage bond wires or scratching the die surface (however unlikely that may be).

Sorry to hear it didn't go well NPR. What does the output look like?
 
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I'm sorry for your loss. I might be asking too much, but do you mind sharing how you tried to de-can? (so others can avoid damaging their diodes)
 
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I'm sorry for your loss. I might be asking too much, but do you mind sharing how you tried to de-can? (so others can avoid damaging their diodes)

I tried using a small screwdriver. I pried the bottom of the laser diode can belowed the internet mount. I did this becuase it stops the end of the screwdriver from getting anywhere close to the bond wires and the laser die, and it's also the strongest part of the laser diode. My goal was to make a big enough hole on the side of the can to let the lens free. The rest went downhill from there. Now I'm left with weak output with every other laser mode working, when I shine the raw output at the wall, it's looks like stripes. It's sucks becuase I really wanted the laser to keep it's fully functional self.
 
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Guys, decanning was unsuccessful, it think the laser is permanently damaged now

This is very unfortunate to happene with such a great diode, now I have to buy another one but I don't have the spendable funds for it as of right now :(

I was going to suggest just turning the diode so the window is down, and seeing if you can jostle it so gravity makes the window fall out, maybe apply some very gentle suction to help pull it out of the aperture. The bond wires are delicate but the window is so light that maybe it wouldn't cause damage if such an attempt were made. But then again who knows.

Having seen some de-canned diodes I am amazed that any of them still work at all. No way in my life would I ever try it myself, and it strikes me as a very bad thing to advise people to do. That's lazeerer-level work, probably best to send it off to someone like that who can do it properly.

when I shine the raw output at the wall, it's looks like stripes.

Maybe try some very gentle compressed air and see if it's just some junk in there that can be blown clear? Worth a try at this point.
 
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Yeah, it's officially dunzoe as of today. The laser went LED. This was my favorite laser too, but I'm more dissapointed about the fact that I lost $315 that easily. A legendary diode shall have a proper burial in the courtesy of my back yard. :(

But hey, if you guys wanna know what a $440 paper weight looks like, I have this sitting on a few sheets of paper anyways XD
 




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