405nm Safety?

[Misanthrop]

Now I see a lot of people always talking about the IR in things..

What about the Ultraviolet?

(please feel free to correct me in anyway shape or form)

For example does a 50mW 405nm laser put out true violet with an undertone of say.. 15 mW of ultraviolet and would that be akin to perhaps a 50mW green laser putting out 15mW of infra-red... with the same damaging factors.

IMO a 20mW 405 is bearable to look at, at a distance, for a short amount of time than a 20mW green at the same distance. But as we all know "Brighter doesn't perhaps mean stronger" and this is my point.. but seeing as I've never seen a 405 higher than 50 in real life I can't differentiate them.

Is there such thing as an ultraviolet filter.. seeing as ultraviolet contains the word "violet" and the laser beam colour is violet so to speak then perhaps the whole beam is ultraviolet... and the UV filter would just block out the whole beam?

With a DPSS 405 this would obviously be.. well.. obvious.



But then isn't ultraviolet also near the invisible part of the UV spectrum also... and considering you have the scale

I've seriously confused myself there... please helppppppppppppppp.

 

[DrSid]

Imho 405nm safety should be pretty much same as 445nm safety .. check 445nm section.

 

[TuhOz]

Imo all lasers have same safety rules.

Off-Topic;
I recently bought 20mW 405nm module from ebay, it cost 8 dollars.
I opened that aizix module and BOOM, my diode's "legs" broke and now its dead.
Just wanted to notify... be careful with cheap modules...

 

[Guyfromhe]

The reason IR is such an issue is because you need a huge IR pump diode to get a little bit of <color>... You're not pumping a 405 with a UV diode ans since it's a laser it shouldn't be producing much if any UV (unless it's lazing at that wavelength)

That would be like saying you need an IR filter with a direct driven red diode because it's red and infrared contains the word red...

At least I think.

 

[Misanthrop]

It's just because I've never seen a post addressing this topic.. maybe because I haven't been here that long.. but still.. if someone could enlighten my noobiness.

 

[DrSid]

405 is close ultraviolet. It's on a border between visible and invisible. If it is diode laser, it only produce one wavelength.
Ultraviolet alone is dangerous, but 405 is more like blue than ultraviolet. Major danger is that it is stronger than it looks. But the difference is not as big as with let's say 808nm infrared.
Just use all precautions as with green or any other laser. Wear protection goggles with correct rating, watch for other people / animals, don't point nowhere where these might occur. With higher powers watch for fire hazard.
And never look into the laser with remaining eye ..

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

It's just because I've never seen a post addressing this topic.. maybe because I haven't been here that long.. but still.. if someone could enlighten my noobiness.

Treat 405nm as you would any other wavelength, except with a lot more paranoia since it's not nearly as visible.