Need help with Everphotonics 808-100W-QCW

[arockin]

Hello, I am very new to laser pointer forums. I am wondering if anyone out there knows anything about the Everphotonics 808-100W-QCW. This is a 100W 808nm laser diode bar. I need to know if this has a driver module on the input. Does anyone know? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Here is a picture of it.

 

[diachi]

Hello, I am very new to laser pointer forums. I am wondering if anyone out there knows anything about the Everphotonics 808-100W-QCW. This is a 100W 808nm laser diode bar. I need to know if this has a driver module on the input. Does anyone know? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Here is a picture of it.

No driver module on these - you will need to build/buy a driver for it (And it's not CW, only Quasi-CW so you'd need one that can do that!). These diodes take A LOT of current to power. I have one inside of a module that runs at 17 amps (1.8V) and that's probably only a 20 Watt bar.

What is your application?

Also - you should fill out your profile so that we have a better idea where you are located and hopefully offer more assistance. This is a very geographically diverse forum.

 

[arockin]

Wow! Thanks so much for your help diachi! That was really fast! I will definitely fill out my profile. A little background for you. I am a physics student at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I am part of a group of physics majors that is building a high power laser metal engraver using this unit. We will be using it on average 60-100A for 2-3 hours at a time. I am in charge of building the power supply that powers the diode bar. Do you know where we can get more specific information about this model? Specifically, we are looking for the complete specifications manual and application notes.

 

[diachi]

Wow! Thanks so much for your help diachi! That was really fast! I will definitely fill out my profile. A little background for you. I am a physics student at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I am part of a group of physics majors that is building a high power laser metal engraver using this unit. We will be using it on average 60-100A for 2-3 hours at a time. I am in charge of building the power supply that powers the diode bar. Do you know where we can get more specific information about this model? Specifically, we are looking for the complete specifications manual and application notes.

Ahh I see, makes sense. You may actually want to look at already fibre coupled packages instead of these. These typically have around 20 emitters so you end up with a very wide, divergent beam which is hard to focus properly. Fibre coupled packages are usually much easier to work with.

For metal engraving you may have better luck with a Q-switched Nd:YAG system running at 1064nm, 532nm or 355nm. That's more complex and expensive though. I don't have experience with metal engraving so the diode option may work just fine.

For spec sheets, best to contact the manufacturer. There are others who make this kind of diode too - so plenty of options. Coherent make nice fibre coupled packages, not cheap if you were to buy new though!

This guy usually deals in used parts, but has the equipment to properly test everything he sells and should have access to complete spec sheets too: Coherent 40W 808nm Laser Diode BAR DPSS Pump Tested AND Guaranteed | eBay

 

[arockin]

Yes, focusing the beam is one of the issues we are addressing. We are first just tackling being able to turn it on first though.

One of our goals is to do this for a little money as possible as we don't have much of it to work with. That is why we have the just the diode itself instead of buying an already coupled fiber package.

We have tried contacting Everphotonics Ltd. for the specs with little success so far but hopefully they will get back to us.

Thanks for showing me the guy on eBay. I actually have stumbled across his listings while looking for info in other listings for similar items. I will message him to see if he has any info on our model.

Thanks again for all your help thus far! I will definitely keep you updated.

 

[diachi]

Yes, focusing the beam is one of the issues we are addressing. We are first just tackling being able to turn it on first though.

One of our goals is to do this for a little money as possible as we don't have much of it to work with. That is why we have the just the diode itself instead of buying an already coupled fiber package.

We have tried contacting Everphotonics Ltd. for the specs with little success so far but hopefully they will get back to us.

Thanks for showing me the guy on eBay. I actually have stumbled across his listings while looking for info in other listings for similar items. I will message him to see if he has any info on our model.

Thanks again for all your help thus far! I will definitely keep you updated.

You may have a hard time getting a hold of Everphotonics, Chinese manufacturers/sellers aren't always known for their reliability.

Junktronix may not be familiar with your model, but it's worth a shot. He usually deals with diodes from Coherent and the likes - each manufacturer does things slightly differently.

One option for fibre coupling on your own is to find something like this:

That's a fibre coupler from a Melles Griot DPSS laser - Takes your 19 or so emitters and combines the output into a bundle of fibre, leaving you with a spot that's a heck of a lot easier to work with than the raw output. Of course your diode's emitter spacing would need to match the fibre spacing and you'd probably need a FAC lens on the output too.

One more resource to check is the LaserFAQ - It has driver examples and should have more information on this type of diode: Sam's Laser FAQ: Welcome Page

Let me know how it goes!

 

[arockin]

Yes, I am starting to believe the same thing about Everphotonics as well.

Wow! All this information is so great! Thank you again.

We are really focusing most of our efforts right now trying to find out about the driver for this thing. You mentioned that you had one of these in use right now? What do you use as the driver? Or is it a coupled package?

I will check out LaserFAQ as well. Thanks so much again!

 

[diachi]

Yes, I am starting to believe the same thing about Everphotonics as well.

Wow! All this information is so great! Thank you again.

We are really focusing most of our efforts right now trying to find out about the driver for this thing. You mentioned that you had one of these in use right now? What do you use as the driver? Or is it a coupled package?

I will check out LaserFAQ as well. Thanks so much again!

It's a commercial unit, the diode is mounted in a separate head - a Melles Griot actually, uses the same fibre coupler I linked to. No involvement in designing the driver for that! Looks like this: http://i.imgur.com/aVmKvT6.jpg

I do have another design - Based on an LM317 driven by a couple of op-amps for modulation and a passbank on the output for increased capacity. The design was from the LaserFAQ, I added the passbank though.

There are high current driver designs on the LaserFAQ if you have a search around, specifically for this type of diode. All linear as far as I know though, so not the most efficient.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

These diodes generally run at around 2V.
How are you going to get 120V or 240V down
to 2-3V?

 

[diachi]

These diodes generally run at around 2V.
How are you going to get 120V or 240V down
to 2-3V?

You could use a 5VDC switchmode power supply and a very beefy current regulator. That'd keep it nice and simple. That's what I plan to do with the one I'm building - It'll be very inefficient, but a nice simple design using fairly cheap parts.

 

[Aleksa]

You will need around 2.2v at 80A for 100W 808nm. For the driver i would recommend building a Swich Mode Power Supply that can handle 200W. Its not as complicated as it seems. That would be my choice. The other solution is to use a computer power supply that can give as many amps as possible on the 5V rail. Then you can use a mosfet (200w +) to regulate the current. That's not the efficient way,cause you will have 150w+ heat dissipation and never going to have MAX power output from your diode. :beer:

 

[arockin]

You will need around 2.2v at 80A for 100W 808nm. For the driver i would recommend building a Swich Mode Power Supply that can handle 200W. Its not as complicated as it seems. That would be my choice. The other solution is to use a computer power supply that can give as many amps as possible on the 5V rail. Then you can use a mosfet (200w +) to regulate the current. That's not the efficient way,cause you will have 150w+ heat dissipation and never going to have MAX power output from your diode. :beer:

Thank you so much for your suggestion! That sounds like the way we are going to go. We have a 12V 100A switched mode power supply now. We are trying to figure out how to make a driver that will do QCW and give us a variable voltage and current we want (~2.2V @ 60-100A). Do you or anyone know how we can do this using the power supply we have?

 

[arockin]

You could use a 5VDC switchmode power supply and a very beefy current regulator. That'd keep it nice and simple. That's what I plan to do with the one I'm building - It'll be very inefficient, but a nice simple design using fairly cheap parts.

Thanks again diachi! Do you have any suggestions for the switched mode power supply that we have? It is a 12V 100A converter/charger. It is a PowerMax PM3-100.

 

[arockin]

These diodes generally run at around 2V.
How are you going to get 120V or 240V down
to 2-3V?

Thanks for your post! We have a switched mode power supply that is a converter/charger for an RV (originally). It is 12V 100A. We are trying to figure out now how to build a driver that will do QCW and give us the 2-3V @ 60-100A max.

 

[Aleksa]

PowerMax PM3-100... That's one big puppy

You need to open it up and see what kind of driver it has.
Your goal is to modify the feedback circuitry. I honestly wouldn't touch that supply,its just so big and wonderful...
Tahmid's blog (google it) is a nice way to learn basics of SMPS. When you find out what is the driver in your supply,find a datasheet for it and look for error amplifier(or what ever feedback topology it has) and post it here so we can figure out how to mod it (if its even possible). :beer:

 

[diachi]

Thanks again diachi! Do you have any suggestions for the switched mode power supply that we have? It is a 12V 100A converter/charger. It is a PowerMax PM3-100.

This is the circuit I plan on using - Only with pass transistors on the output to do the heavy lifting.

Capable of being modulated using a 5V analogue signal, with settings for minimum current controlled by a potentiometer. Courtesy of the LaserFAQ!

Attached is a description of the circuit and some notes on how it operates.