445nm optics

Apologies if this has been gone over a zillion times. I've been pouring over threads here for days and feel like I've only scratched the surface.

What are the recommended optics for getting a decent quality beam out of one of these A140 diodes? I got a cheap module on ebay which appears to have an uncoated glass lens and found the beam to be pretty good. I picked up an Aixiz 405 lens and tried that today but was a little disappointed by the results, there's a line across the spot in the output and it doesn't seem to focus as well as the cheap lens that came with the module. I have an EE background so the electronic part is no problem but I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to optics, most of my previous experience has been with gas lasers.

These things are absolutely stunning even where I am so far. Running at 1.2A I bumped the module so it was missing my beam stop and the next thing I knew, a cardboard box across the room was smoking!

The line means it *IS* focused. It is supposed to be there.
If there is no line, it means its not really focused, or it is clipping the sides.
That is what these diodes do, they have a rectangular lasing area, and so
the output is as well. You have to use correction after that point if you
want it to be closer to a square. A prism pair or cylinder lenses are the way
to improve the fast axis.

That's not quite what I meant. I have a nice sharp little rectangular dot, but there's some artifacts to the sides of it. I haven't had a chance to dig into things much but it looks very much like the beam is grazing the housing somewhere.

Out of curiosity, what are some other lenses people are using for these?

Cylindrical lenses are 'go'

Anamorphic prisms are go

445nm power diode beam corrector

a few to get you started.............

-Brooks

KGB_Productions said:

Cylindrical lenses are 'go'

Anamorphic prisms are go

445nm power diode beam corrector

a few to get you started.............

-Brooks

Click to expand...

I am very interested in these three lens.They should be used together to get the better beam quality?or any of them is workable?Could you please help me with more information?Thanks.

For the OP, does the inner part of the lens (that is the part that faces the diode) on the cheap Aixiz module you got on ebay look like the one on the bottom in this pic? And the 445nm lens look like the one on the top?



I was thinking because your dot looked so good that maybe it had one of the older lenses which could be "clipping" those wings you see with the 445nm lens