Build laser From DVD Drive.

I have one DVD/CD-RW drive,which read DVD-s and CD-s and can burn CD-s also. ( Can't burn DVD-s)

CD-RW/DVD Drive TS-H492
Date: JULY 2004

I wanna get laser diode from them :drool:
Now i wanna known. Did that laser diode can be used for pointer? Did that laser diode can be used for laser burner?

I just wanna known that. :thinking:


Please help me.

And i wanna known also how to turn on that diode. :thinking:




Thanks! :thanks: :wave: :anyone: :friend:


Sorry for too much smiles,and for bad english.

If the drive wasn't a DVD burner no you can't use the diode in it to make a visible laser pointer. CD burners use IR diodes which can be used to make an IR laser but they are *very* dangerous and *should not* be your first home made laser.

To power a laser diode you need a driver. Hooking it directly to a battery will destroy it very fast. I'd suggest going and reading the info in the Drivers forum.

The red laser is a 'reader' not a 'burner'.

The writing diode in that drive will be
for the CD, which means IR and is not
visible (780nm NIR).

If you want a burning 'red' laser, you need
a DVD burner...

xZero said:

I have one DVD/CD-RW drive,which read DVD-s and CD-s and can burn CD-s also. ( Can't burn DVD-s)

CD-RW/DVD Drive TS-H492
Date: JULY 2004

I wanna get laser diode from them :drool:
Now i wanna known. Did that laser diode can be used for pointer? Did that laser diode can be used for laser burner?

I just wanna known that. :thinking:


Please help me.

And i wanna known also how to turn on that diode. :thinking:




Thanks! :thanks: :wave: :anyone: :friend:


Sorry for too much smiles,and for bad english.

Click to expand...

You really should take some time and READ. The answers to the basic questions you're asking can be located by checking out the links in my sig. :beer:

The reason I got into lasers in the first place is I was looking for the output wattage of a laser printer diode.
Gotta start somewhere

The Photonlexicon.com forum can help on most of your questions. You should check them out too. Signing up is easy.

When asked, you should know that LASER is an acronym consisting of the following constituent words:
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Im new in lasers and sorry for stupid quetsions.

Can i make just RED laser pointer with that CD-RW/DVD drive?

No, as other people has said the diode in that is IR and is dangerous as you can't see the beam. You need a diode out of a DVD writer.

xZero said:

Im new in lasers and sorry for stupid quetsions.

Can i make just RED laser pointer with that CD-RW/DVD drive?

Click to expand...

The Red diode, (DVD-ROM) in your drive is ~1mw and not worth your time. The CD-RW diode, as others have pointed out, is 780nm which is NEAR IR and as a consequence is very dim in appearance. You can see it but since the wavelength is approaching the limits of human vision it is deceptively dim and very dangerous.

It would probably be a good learning experience to practice diode extraction on that drive, but you're not going to be able to build a bad ass red laser out of it.. Get yourself a DVD-RW for that. Also, like LtKernelPanic said, you need a driver. Here is a simple driver and test load with some safety features that you can build for <$5: Laser driver - It can be done Go do some reading!