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FrozenGate by Avery

50mW 473nm DPSS

If you want 473nm and don't mind a lab style unit get one of these.

473 nm Blue Laser, DPSS, B&W Tek BWB-10-OEM | eBay

Several people here on LPF including myself have bought them and they're the cheapest way I've seen to get 473nm. If you do buy one make sure to do two things. First wrap the switch with some electrical tape because there is a small exposed connection that can give you a nice 110VAC zap (Ask jakeGT about that). Secondly if you're not going to put it into some enclosure you need to join the two green wires together. Those are the ground from your power supply to the wall outlet that normally attached to the original chassis.
 
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LtKernelPanic said:
Secondly if you're not going to put it into some enclosure you need to join the two green wires together. Those are the ground from your power supply to the wall outlet that normally attached to the original chassis.
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I'll do that; thanks for the heads-up... :)

-Trevor
 
@JBTexas:

You should definatly see 445nm and 473nm side by side.. there is a pretty big difference :p

Also, poor man's way for cyan is a 445nm (I think you might do this with a 405nm instead? IDK, never tried 405nm) and a 532nm mixed with a dichro (and varried to ballance to a cyan)

As stated, Argon is also a good way to get it (488nm probably will get you there IIRC).
or a diffraction grating of a multi-line argon, you will get a nice collection of wavelenths that can go between 473nm and 515nm.

But note that argons are more like Space heaters then lasers, they are rediculously inefficient.
 
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Visible lines for argon go down to 458nm.. which funnily is called the violet line.
 
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Xtrm2Rick said:
I surely hope you read that its not functioning
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These 'non-functioning' lasers actually do work. They just aren't up to spec and/or have beam artifacts.

I just got one in for experimentation purposes that peaks at 12mw without the feedback and averages around 8mW but the beam output is pretty nasty looking.

I actually have a 2nd one on they way now as well for an even different experiment heh. So i'll end up with 3 in the end, though hopefully if one project succeeds, it won't be a 473 any longer. heh.

All in all. If you really want 473nm and are on an extreme budget, these are probably your best option.. Yes they're low power, but if your brave there's always the chance you can tune them and get more out of them. I managed to get 30mW stable out of my 'good' one.
 
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Hey just so you guys know the ebay seller from the OP is Ultralasers. Shawn wang is the owner of "Ultralasers", Thus its the same product... I actually talked to the guy on the phone last week. Good guy, reliable, and give's good customer service. I bought from him years ago and he replaced a laser I bought due to me not being satisfied with the divergence.

Kind of funny that piferal posted it and had no idea lol, hope that helps silver..

-Greg
 
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Alright folks, I was offered a CNI unit that does a lil bit over 100 mW for $450 + shipping. What do you think? It's from a member on PL and is used.
 
Can someone here help me with a problem and answer a few questions...I bought one of those non functiong eBay 473's and it did work until I started messing with it...basically I cracked it open and while it was running I placed a piece of paper between the IR c mount diode and the first lens just to see how powerful the IR diode might be. Well, puff went the paper....hole right through it but.....all the sudden it quit making blue....the IR c mount appears to be working still. I may have accidentally touched the diode with the paper. Even though there's a lot pf output from the IR diode the DPSS unit no longer lases...what did I do to it? Did I damage the diode or is there some sort of feedback photodiode between the crystal set and the IR that I did something to?

I understand if you take the crystal set out of the front of these units and put an 808 up to the input it will make 473 light....in fact there's a guy selling just the crystal set module out of the front of the same unit I have, the ad claims all you need to do is supply IR into the input.

My best thought is I touched the paper to the diode and damaged it...maybe just replacing the c mount diode with a 2 watt will get me up and running again....any thoughts?
 
My guess is that the smoke from the burning paper damaged the coating on the crystals. Those crystals are REALLY sensitive.
 
Question one... WHY? :thinking:

Plus these use LBO as a NLO.. which is hygroscopic.. These are sealed for a reason (but that's a slow death, not an instant one)

Beyond that.. The possibilities.

1) the back reflection of having a white piece of paper shoved in front of it degraded the diode itself to the point it's not producing enough IR to lase the gain crystal.

2) you accidentally knocked the FAC off the front of the diode.. Its a piece of fiber optic you can barely even see glued to the front of the die..

3) the puff of smoke from the paper resulted in funk all over the FAC/front of the diode and is screwing up the output enough it's not lasing.

Pretty much all instances mean you need a new C-mount with a FAC.
 
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Thanks Qumefox...yeah, the crystals are six inches from the area where I put the paper and there are two focusing lenses and a prism between the IR and the crystal unit.

Do the C mounts have the FAC built onto them or os this something I need to add to a new one if I decide to replace it?

The crystals are mounted in a nice housing with a 3-5v TEC...I have some 9mm 1w 808's mounted in AixiZ style sinks with lens...I am thinking of trying to just strip the crystal module out with TEC and use the 1w 808 amped to about 1.4w to build a handheld. They claim with just over a watt of 808 properly focused into the crystal unit you can get 70mw+ 473....the crystal housing with TEC is really small and could easily be contained in a large handheld. It would make for an interesting handheld DIY if I can pull it off....with TEC in a handheld AND 70mw of 473...all for under $100 or so.

I think that's what I'm gonna do.....it was only $35 and there's plenty more from where it came...

I will post back my results in a few days or so....

Thanks for the input...I am almost certain you are correct about knocking off the FAC...I just fired it back up and placed the paper back in front of the diode...the output is elongated and pointing outward to about 10 o'clock....I have not paid close attention until now...it is definitely a different pattern than my 9mm 808 output...it almost now bleeds out to the edge of the first lens...definitely screwed up for sure.

This ones getting salvaged for parts and I will buy another to retune.
 
if the FAC is still there, there's the possibility of pulling the C mount off, fixing the FAC with some optical grade epoxy, then realigning the diode. But it's a tiny sliver of glass.. so better have steady hands.
 
Yeh, buying a new 2w c-mount is gonna cost around ~60 dollars off ebay so if you can't find a cheaper c-mount somewhere or fix it, you might aswell buy another non-functioning unit and take the diode out of that. Then you have extra's and a housing for other laser projects!
 
Qumefox...you didn't answer a key question....would a new C mount have a FAC already attached? How big is a FAC? mm or less?
Thanks,
Jeff
 
FAC is an option on the diodes. I wouldn't fiddle it myself with the glasfiber. They are really very very small and you need a microscope to put it right in front of the emitter.

Best option is buy a IR diode with a FAC installed.
 
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