HeNe lasers

pwnstar · Apr 9, 2008

Besides the reason that HeNe's look kool as hell,
What advantage does a 5mw HeNe laser have over a 5mw diode laser?
If I had one, what could I do differently with a HeNe?

Razako · Apr 9, 2008

HENE are 632 nm as opposed to a diode 635 nm.

MarioMaster · Apr 9, 2008

plus gas lasers usually have really good beam specs vs diodes

FrothyChimp · Apr 9, 2008

HeNe laser wavelength will drift on the order of 10^-2 to 10^-5nm. Great for holography. Diode laser drift is on the order of 5nm or so and temperature dependent.

pwnstar · Apr 10, 2008

Thanks for all of the responses
Do HeNe's heat up at all?

jamilm9 · Apr 10, 2008

were can you buy a hene red in canada

MarioMaster · Apr 10, 2008

they're usually on ebay a lot, they do output a bit of heat but nothing to be overly concerned with

rkcstr · Apr 10, 2008

I used to have an HeNe a few years back... it was pretty cool to see the tube lighting up and emitting the laser, but I sold it again since it was pretty big, had to be plugged in, and wasn't doing much in my closet.

I would like to get another one in the future, though, they're pretty cool.

FrothyChimp · Apr 10, 2008

The laser tube will get warm to hot depending on the make and output but doesn't require an active cooling system. After all you're ionizing gas with high voltage DC. Usually the tube is inside an enclosure anyway. I have a couple of them and mainly use them for alignment of other lasers. Don't expect to find anything much greater than 20mW output however. Your garden variety HeNe is between 1 and 5mW and sometimes less. I have a tiny Uniphase HeNe that outputs .95mW. It's cute. My other pushes a record breaking 5mW. Prices are generally quite modest for a gas laser.

JLSE · Apr 10, 2008

jamilm9 said:
were can you buy a hene red in canada

Search your local surplus retailers, they are a goldmine for old tubes. And if you find the tube with no power supply, an old PC monitor flyback works just fine

Switch · Apr 10, 2008

I see green and yellow HeNe's cost a LOT more and are available in even smaller powers.

JLSE · Apr 10, 2008

The beauty of the He/Ne is the beam. I owned one of these before my first diode laser, and although they are limited for power the super thin beam makes up for it. There are so many junk stores out there, who have ripped apart tabletop scanners and have boxes of it laying around. You have to find the, not so well known surplus stores in your area. I pick tubes up for $5, although I have never found any other colour than red.

Switch · Apr 10, 2008

That kinda figures....Who would make a barcode scanner out of a $2000 5mW green HeNe?

JLSE · Apr 10, 2008

Back in the day that’s what the reds cost. I remember flipping through Edmund Scientific catalogues and the insane prices for a 1mW.

jamilm9 · Apr 11, 2008

i can't find on what is a good cost of about 5mw red

MarioMaster · Apr 11, 2008

wannaburn said:
The beauty of the He/Ne is the beam. I owned one of these before my first diode laser, and although they are limited for power the super thin beam makes up for it. There are so many junk stores out there, who have ripped apart tabletop scanners and have boxes of it laying around. You have to find the, not so well known surplus stores in your area. I pick tubes up for $5, although I have never found any other colour than red.

if you can pick up tubes for $5 i would be happy to pay for one

HeNe lasers

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