Laser goggle fail

Ok, so a couple days I was lasing around in my room with my green 5mw ebay pen laser (probably overspec not sure). I had my laserglow goggles on (LSG-532-NF-7) and I passed over an orange post it and defeated the saftey of my goggles .

I'm guessing since both post it and my goggles were orange it canceled each other out?:thinking:

I'm just glad I wasn't using a 300mw greenie otherwise :cryyy:

Has this happened to anyone else?

Jufran88 said:

Ok, so a couple days I was lasing around in my room with my green 5mw ebay pen laser (probably overspec not sure). I had my laserglow goggles on (LSG-532-NF-7) and I passed over an orange post it and defeated the saftey of my goggles .

I'm guessing since both post it and my goggles were orange it canceled each other out?:thinking:

I'm just glad I wasn't using a 300mw greenie otherwise :cryyy:

Has this happened to anyone else?

Click to expand...

What you are seeing is entirely normal.

The sudden, bright orange glow isn't coherent laser emission, instead, it's fluorescence of the object that's being lased (in this case, the post-it note). None of the green would make it through- what you are seeing is emission in the yellow, which isn't attenuated by the goggles.

This fluorescence may not always be visible (for example, blue laser exciting green dye, where both will be blocked by the goggles). But in this case, the orange post-it fluoresces strongly enough that it's clearly noticeable through the goggles.

You'll notice it with a lot of red/orange/yellow objects- don't worry too much about it.

The fluorescence is may be a significant fraction of the laser power, but it's emitted in every direction, so it doesn't have the risk of a collimated beam. But with for example 1W of 445nm you'd need to be more carefull because the fluorenscence can then be very strong, but with a class 4 laser instead of 3a you'd have to be carefull anyway.

Ah, thank you for enlightening me. But is it safe? It's almost as bright without the laser goggles on.

Edit*
I'm planning to build a 445nm soon and this worries me. What colors cause fluorescence with blue, green, and violet lasers?

Your goggles are probably only protecting against the general spectrum of your laser, the fluoresced wavelength might be closer to 600-660nm (kinda orange to red) so it get through the goggles almost unaffected.
I have a similar effect with my broad spectrum goggles, if they blocked every wavelength you wouldn't be able to see :na:
"If it is bright enough to bother you, it isn't safe" has always been my double safety with lasers that aren't supposed to be able to hurt you. Probably holds true in this instance as well. If it feels like you have glanced toward the sun, avoid exposure.

Can anyone tell me what colors fluoresces with 445nm Lasers and violet lasers? I'm planning to build one soon and want to avoid accidentally lasing a color and have it potentially damage my eyes even though its a fraction of the power of the actual diode. Especially for 445nm builds over 1 watt

So far I noticed this with my 5mw ebay green pen (with laserglow LSG-532-NF-7 goggles:

- orange objects really fluoresce, the brighter orange the more fluorescence.
- some black materials turn the dot red.
- gray and red objects somewhat cause fluorescence

Jufran88 said:

Can anyone tell me what colors fluoresces with 445nm Lasers and violet lasers? I'm planning to build one soon and want to avoid accidentally lasing a color and have it potentially damage my eyes even though its a fraction of the power of the actual diode. Especially for 445nm builds over 1 watt

So far I noticed this with my 5mw ebay green pen (with laserglow LSG-532-NF-7 goggles:

- orange objects really fluoresce, the brighter orange the more fluorescence.
- some black materials turn the dot red.
- gray and red objects somewhat cause fluorescence

Click to expand...

Its not going to damage your eyes. If its is bright enough to make you squint, then avoid lasing that color. 405nm and 445nm with make anything a black light glow, glow. I have a couple of 1.1W 445nm lasers, and have never seen anything glow so bright I couldnt look at it. So dont sweat it.

Jufran88 said:

the brighter orange the more fluorescence.

Click to expand...

It's actually the other way around. They're designed with more fluorescence, so they're a brighter orange.

@Tech_Junkie:
Ah ok, I'm just a bit worried and want to avoid colors that cause fluorescence. :scared:

@Cyparagon:
Both statements can be true depends on how you perceive it.

:thanks:

Dont worry, you're in no danger from fluorescents.