300mW 808nm laser diode

[crash1337]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought the common "808nm 300mW High Power Burning Infrared Laser Diode Lab" from here. Since i'm new to lasers (Excluding the precautions I'm well aware of) I was wondering how I would drive the laser. My second question is once the laser is on, will it show a purple dot due to the UV? Or will it just be completely invisible? I'm hoping to at least burn something with this since it's the aim of my project.

Thanks!

 

[Speedy78]

808nm will be ir. Not uv. You will need a set of safety glasses first before operating the laser.

 

[crash1337]

Ah ok, so would the target just be appearing to burn?

 

[Speedy78]

Well IR is very dangerous without proper safety glasses. If you look at it without glasses it will appear as a faint red light BUT the real danger is the light you cant see. So first step is glasses rated at the wavelength you're using.

 

[crash1337]

Ah, I saw that. I wear the glasses but wasn't sure how I know it would be working. Do I have to focus the wave through a lens or should it just burn?