Laser driver circuits

I am newish to lasers and is certianly the case regarding driving them with circuits ,got limited supply of components ,and needing a restock ,but was wondering if anyone knows of any simple driver circuits using through hole components and some common ic's ,have no voltage regulators so,suggestions are welcome, once components are restocked i have a fairly solid idea of how to go about it ,what im looking for are some rudimentary hackz for the time being !!!!! [for a quick table top unit]

HIT ME UP !!

AL

Teslaflux said:

I am newish to lasers and is certianly the case regarding driving them with circuits ,got limited supply of components ,and needing a restock ,but was wondering if anyone knows of any simple driver circuits using through hole components and some common ic's ,have no voltage regulators so,suggestions are welcome, once components are restocked i have a fairly solid idea of how to go about it ,what im looking for are some rudimentary hackz for the time being !!!!! [for a quick table top unit]

HIT ME UP !!

AL

Click to expand...

Laser drivers really depend on which diode you are running and the batteries you are using. What are you trying to drive? The simplest one is probably a constant current linear driver using a LM317. Here is a compendium of most of the drivers available.

Without knowing the acceptable dimensions of your application or the voltage requirements its difficult to recommend components.

At minimum provide us with the following information:
Whats your power source? One battery? Two batteries? What kind of batteries?
What is your laser diode? Can you link the datasheet?
How long do you intend on keeping it on? this will affect thermal derating of components
Whats the approximate maximum size the driver can be. You mentioned thru-hole, so each hole spacing is 0.1"

LM317 is the simplest solution, but there are much more versatile alternatives, especially for applications requiring narrow dropout voltages

cheerio