405nm Blue Violet laser build

[LethalLight]

I have been toying with building a 405nm laser, but I keep seeing 1+ Watt 445nm lasers that are about 100-220 dollars to build. The current 12x 405nm lasers are single mode and can do about 600 mW of power? Can we assume if the speeds of the blu-ray drives increase, higher-power 405nm laser diodes will be produced?? I really want a 1 Watt 405nm laser that is hand held. Is this doable with the current selection of diodes (discounting any "freak" diodes that may be able to reach and even slightly exceed this)?

Any ideas on host, lens, driver, batteries (working Voltage/drive currents) and heat sinks?? Should I pursue a 445nm build or a 405nm build? Any help or suggestions from those in the know would be greatly appreciated!:thanks:

 

[weidmark]

Right now the most powerful 405 diodes are the 12x ones. The sled is $50.99 from olike. The highest power i have seen one of these put out is 900mW with a g-1 lens (not even half the 2w+ the 445 diodes are putting out). The 12x diodes need ~6V to work and most people use either the flexdrive v5 or the microboost for these build. In general they builds dont need as much heatsinking at the 445 builds need (at least for the driver) since they are only being run at ~600mA.