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Thanks for this, it's great data and will come in handy as I dial in the z-fold. I figured out my alignment confusion. Well, I got some help from folks along the way. The alignment beam is going to deflect from the crystal for all sorts of reasons (crystal not totally parallel, refraction...

:) Ha. Been there, done that. I have plenty of things that pew pew. This one...this is more of a journey. And my wife hoping someday I will talk about something else. whysoserious - FAPs are Coherent FAP 40w. They are used but in good condition and temperature tuned to emit @ 808. I don't...

I've spent some time on this and no luck. First, my idea of using the IR leakage from my 532nm pointer is not going to work. Yes, it's cheap and leaks IR. But is just "spill" from spontaneous emission and not in the beam. If I put a visible block filter in front of it I get next to nothing...

This video shows a neat technique: Wavelength Division Multiplexing. He's using knife edging, but also a TEC cooler on each end of a group of diodes to create a temperature gradient. Since wavelength is temperature dependent, you can then take the independent beams from the knife edge array...

Thanks Tony. Will spend a few nights this week trying this out. Your green laser sparked an idea -- I have a cheap DPSS 532nm laser that spits out a bunch of 1064 light too. I have not been using it for alignment because while the label says < 5mw, my LPM says it's putting out about 60: way...

#2 is a planar mirror that's HR 1064 HT 808. But the black cylinder to the left is a combination collimator and focusing assembly. It's currently set to about 300um but with a lens swap I can get it down to about 150um at the crystal face. Unfortunately the light coming into this is a fiber...

I've been working on a DPSS laser for a while now. My goal is a frequency doubled Z-fold pumped by two 40w FAPs. I've done a ton of work on this, from designing my own power supplies and TEC controllers, to modeling the cavity via software to ensure stability and a decent beam waist in both the...

Another update: some level of success. Little white dot on the white IR target is a 1064nm laser beam at about 2 watts: Glamor shot: The whole apparatus: Lots more to do. Only about 5% wall plug efficiency, need to convert to green, and need to convert to a z-fold so I can double-end...

Progress Update: I spent a fair amount of time designing a TEC controller...and then designing another one that could handle higher currents because the 5A I was sending to the TEC wasn't enough to keep the FAP cool. Yes, it is a little concerning that it may take more power to cool the FAP...

@Alaskan I'm wondering if you ever got the Spectra Physics ZLM to lase? I have a working TEC now so I can keep the FAP temperature in check and I'm trying to get the ZLM to lase but no luck. I'm only using one FAP -- do you or anyone else know the ZLM threshold? The output from the fiber...

I'm starting to think the harmonic separator is the way to go. This is basically a mirror that only reflects 532 so you can keep the 532 in the KTP section of the resonator. This opens up your options a bit as every mirror in the resonator doesn't need to be both 1064 and 532. And yes...

I am working on building one but it is very slow going. There's a lot I don't know...and the parts are quite expensive so I haven't run out and bought a ton of things to experiment with. I started with a Spectra Physics ZLM I bought off eBay with the idea of converting it to 532. But I soon...

A new FAP just arrived and I was careful to find one with the original SMA to SMA coupler on it . I also purchased official Coherent fibers so I can compare the differences. The fibers do look to be standard SMA905 -- same ferrule length. Although they look like they have an AR coating on the...

The fiber ends were clean. I took Encap's advice and talked to both Thor Labs and Coherent. The problem is that Coherent's SMA connectors go in deeper than standard SMA 905, so there was too much air gap.

First, the good news: I successfully designed a dual constant current power supply to drive two FAP800s for this laser head. It is small and can run off a LiPo RC car battery. It can deliver 50A to each FAP and can be controlled by a microprocessor: I was able to easily take the two FAP800's...

A close up of the fiber connection to the FAP800s.

I ruined this fiber when I turned the power up.

Ongoing photos of my attempt to convert a Spectra Physics ZLM laser head to 532nm.

Home-designed constant current switching supply. Two channels each capable of up to 50A and microprocessor control.

Do I have to admit that? The Ophir sensor was $277 and the most expensive single part. Electronic components were about $150 with $60 of that just the display. Then there was PCB fabrication (~$50), 3D printing ($40) and, I'm a little ashamed to say, the grey front panel was a custom graphic...