Hi Guys,
This is my first laser project and I'm going to be building a mid power blue laser. I'm looking to output 100-200mw. I've already aquired my laser diode and have tested it using a my own little test rig. I was a little surprised that lasers require focusing optics (first time remember). After poking around the internet a bit, It seems like 1.2-1.5mrad is a typical value for beam divergence. Is this true, or are the stats I found from really cheap low quality laser optics?
I calculated that 1.2mrad = 12cm/100yard. This seams extremely large. I know people have been driving leds past 1W, however even at that power output, I can't see imagine the beam being visible past a few hundred meters.
Is it possible to achieve better? Feel free to recommend projects.
This is my first laser project and I'm going to be building a mid power blue laser. I'm looking to output 100-200mw. I've already aquired my laser diode and have tested it using a my own little test rig. I was a little surprised that lasers require focusing optics (first time remember). After poking around the internet a bit, It seems like 1.2-1.5mrad is a typical value for beam divergence. Is this true, or are the stats I found from really cheap low quality laser optics?
I calculated that 1.2mrad = 12cm/100yard. This seams extremely large. I know people have been driving leds past 1W, however even at that power output, I can't see imagine the beam being visible past a few hundred meters.
Is it possible to achieve better? Feel free to recommend projects.