Building a Green Laser - First Try

Braddubya said:

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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Some of the cheap greenie crystals are good up to 100mW of green after filtration at most. Some will be ok around 30-50mW. The majority will be happy around 15-30mW. The stock pump diode is good for maybe 250-300mW. Pushing it further than that can kill it.

And yes, too much pump power can damage the crystals. 1W from the pump will not produce any more green than <300mW of pump power will and you'll get some issues with stability, too.

You may find that realignment does not make a significant difference. Maybe 1 out of 10 will be good for more than 50mW.
If you want more than that you'll have to step up to bigger, better crystals and a 500mW pump at least.

When you do get around to experimenting, test the output quality with low pump power first. Once you have good alignment, it is ok to crank up the current. Try to stay conservative, though. It's best to aim for stability at moderate power rather than high peaks with a quick drop-off due to heat. Eventually, there will be a point where the crystals don't give you any more green (sometimes less green) with more pump power. That is when you know you are pushing the limits of what your crystals can handle.

Another tip... try to use AR coated optics. In a DIY green setup, every milliWatt matters, and you won't want to waste any power.