A 30 Watt Saber build?

[AaronT]

Yep. Since everything is going so smooth with my Phaser build, and I plan to get one of Rick Trents 7w units I'm thinking of my next build.

I have been playing with this idea a while.

The new blue/blue Dichro works on such a narrow spectrum that binned/sorted NUBM44s can be combined.

2x NUBM44 into a PBS cube, then x 2 of those into the Dichro all crammed into a 2 inch wide footprint.

This arrangement requires an experimental construction method where the popular 3 axis mount cubes are use as temp fixtures to hold components so they can be fixed in place with adhesive, once aligned, then the cubes are removed entirely and can be re-used.

It isn't shown in the layout but the diodes closest to the PBS cubes will be moved back for better quality combining.

I plan to use Blackbuck M8 drivers with external pots. This will allow me to control each diode independently.

I also know that I can cram 8 of the 14500s into the handle of a 2 D cell maglite, this would even allow me to put each diode on a dedicated circuit (minus the main switch).

 

[Accutronitis]

Wouldn't that be 28 watts not counting any losses encountered by the beams passing through the apparatus ?

 

[AaronT]

30 Watts sounds cooler.

I have seen NUBM44s pushed to 7.5 + watts fairly regularly.

I figure since I'll be sorting these NUBM44s to figure out what side of the dichro to put them on I might as well keep an eye out for ones that have more output at 5.5 amps.

So as much as it sounds cool to say "30 Watts", I think with careful selection and construction I can get this build to peak at 30 watts even counting loss.



You'll know I'm really gearing up when I start selling the NUBM44s that don't meet my requirements in the for sale section.

 

[Accutronitis]

30 Watts sounds cooler.

I have seen NUBM44s pushed to 7.5 + watts fairly regularly.

I figure since I'll be sorting these NUBM44s to figure out what side of the dichro to put them on I might as well keep an eye out for ones that have more output at 5.5 amps.

So as much as it sounds cool to say "30 Watts", I think with careful selection and construction I can get this build to peak at 30 watts even counting loss.



You'll know I'm really gearing up when I start selling the NUBM44s that don't meet my requirements in the for sale section.

Can't knock you for that !

 

[HydroSean]

Essentially what you're making is called a diode array module by combining the diodes laser light linearly. Honestly what I'd do is shoot DTR an email asking him for one of his bricks (if he has any) and then installing a knife edge array to the brick, he sells knife edge arrays as well. Here's a website explaining this module further and I think is your best bet. Another thing, your design uses two PBS cubes and a dichroic mirror so you're going to be losing power with all those. My advice is to do what this website says to do and use only one PBS cube and no dichroics, that way you lose as little power as possible.

https://www.laserworld.com/en/technical-explanations-overview/diode-array-modules-principle-and-differences.html

 

[AaronT]

Not quite. I want a single collimated beam of 30 Watts.

Once the first array is built I could build another, since it is a single collimated beam, knife edging a bunch of them together wouldn't be as difficult as building the array modules themselves. Well at least from a technical stand point.

Still got to build the first one though.

 

[Accutronitis]

https://www.laserworld.com/en/technical-explanations-overview/diode-array-modules-principle-and-differences.html

That link must be a bit outdated ?

As mentioned above, the power per single diode laser source is limited. Those are the limits at the moment:
•red 637nm: max. ca. 170mW per single diode
•blue 445nm: max. ca. 1500mW per single diode
•green 515nm: max ca. 50mW per single diode

 

[AaronT]

IMHO the guide native to this forum is very good.

Reference Guide: How to Combine Lasers

 

[Encap]

That link must be a bit outdated ?

Very obviously he is referring to the section on combining beams with PBS cubes and knife edge arrays which are perfectly valid today--not outdated at all.

 

[BobMc]

@AaronT, Best wishes with this idea. Love to see the finished product.

 

[HydroSean]

Not quite. I want a single collimated beam of 30 Watts.

Once the first array is built I could build another, since it is a single collimated beam, knife edging a bunch of them together wouldn't be as difficult as building the array modules themselves. Well at least from a technical stand point.

Still got to build the first one though.

yeah then you will have to sacrifice some power by using more than one PBS cube. If I were to do it that way I would just use another PBS cube instead of that dichroic mirror at the end.

 

[CurtisOliver]

Have you spectro'd the diodes and measured their line widths? It is a clever idea to use a blue dichro, but I'm concerned that you will hit serious losses if the line width isn't narrow enough. You'll will also need waveplates if you don't want to end up with a + shaped beam. All in all though, good optical design and good luck! +rep :beer:

Hydrosean, you can't use multiple PBS's like that. What AaronT is cleverly trying to do is combat the multiple beam problem without using knife-edging.

 

[diachi]

yeah then you will have to sacrifice some power by using more than one PBS cube. If I were to do it that way I would just use another PBS cube instead of that dichroic mirror at the end.

Curtis already bet me to it, but yeah, you can't use more than one PBS like that. The second one would just split the beam back up. Using a dichro like that is the only way to do this and have the beams overlap.

 

[CurtisOliver]

:na: Diachi.
You taught us all well!

 

[Light superglue]

There is one thread by Minamoto Kobayashi with a more detailed CAD project of combining two pairs of diodes with diferent WLs (in post 12):

http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/g...13w-cyan-combination-nova-progress-99918.html

 

[AaronT]

Have you spectro'd the diodes and measured their line widths? It is a clever idea to use a blue dichro, but I'm concerned that you will hit serious losses if the line width isn't narrow enough. You'll will also need waveplates if you don't want to end up with a + shaped beam. All in all though, good optical design and good luck! +rep :beer:

Hydrosean, you can't use multiple PBS's like that. What AaronT is cleverly trying to do is combat the multiple beam problem without using knife-edging.

Others have spec's/sorted NUBM44s and had better than 95% transmission for the passing beam and better than 95% reflection on the reflected beam even though both diodes were NUBM44s.

The grey blocks in my diagram between the mirrors represent the 1/2 waveplates.

What I'm stuck on is if the diodes are close enough to the other components to be combined before correcting the beam with a single g2 lens or if the line width is too wide and I'll need to correct each diode before the PBS cubes.

I may find that it will be a toss and I can use just a pair of g2 lenses after the PBS cubes but before the dichro.