Any company sell UV lasers?

[The Purple Death]

I'm not looking for something to burn my house down with, just your basic laser pointer.
405nm is advertised as a violet laser.
I can't find something lower.
Thanks!

 

[NightExplorer96]

Finding something in the UV range and having it fit into a laser pointer for a reasonable cost is going to be pretty though unfortunately. UV lasers do exist, but their cost are prohibitively expensive, were talking upwards of a few thousand dollars! Most of them used in scientific settings.

-Alex

 

[diachi]

Your only option for a pointer is a UV diode, which is going to cost at least a couple thousand dollars from most sources.

https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=5400

You can get lucky and find a used UV DPSS/Metal Vapour/Gas laser on eBay for a couple hundred dollars but those are nowhere close to portable. My 355nm DPSS laser probably weighs about 40lbs, if not more. My 337nm N2 laser is smaller but still far from portable.

 

[The Purple Death]

Holy cow, what materials/manufacturing technique make them so expensive? Or is it just that companies can charge that price?
For $4000 I could (try) to build a laser at home using jade, but it would not be UV.

 

[NightExplorer96]

Holy cow, what materials/manufacturing technique make them so expensive? Or is it just that companies can charge that price?
For $4000 I could (try) to build a laser at home using jade, but it would not be UV.

Just lack of any real demand outside of scientific research which leads to high prices.

-Alex

 

[paul1598419]

Thorlabs is a great place to find quality optics, but not the first place I'd go to if looking for a specific diode. These are so expensive because there is hardly any demand for them.

Nice to see you again, Alex. I hope your studies are going well.

 

[NightExplorer96]

Thorlabs in a great place to find quality optics, but not the first place I'd go to if looking for a specific diode. These are so expensive because there is hardly any demand for them.

Nice to see you again, Alex. I hope your studies are going well.

Everything is going well for now paul!

-Alex

 

[paul1598419]

Great! Don't be a stranger.

 

[hakzaw1]

Hunker down and be safe guys. hk

 

[Wolfwood]

i have a good friend looking for a UV laser for etching PCBs. this is going to break his little heart.

 

[Alaskan]

Styropyro found a UV diode surplus on ebay inside a device, it even worked, for awhile, until he toasted it. You could get lucky like he did and find one cheap that way, but I've been looking and haven't come across one yet myself.

 

[TinLethax]

I known that if laser diode cool down below the 0 degree celsius will shift down the wavelenght. Styropyro and Brainiac had done something like this. Styropyro dip the red laser into the container filled with LN2. Brainiac put the cheap laser pen pointer (405,532 and 650)in fridge (4 degree celsius). But it will shorten lifetime of laser diode.putting in pointer pen is impossible but if you create a bigger host and put 10x10mm TEC cooler. I hope you will get (nearly) what you want.

 

[paul1598419]

It depends on the diode's composition whether you will get a large shift in WL by cooling it. A 532nm laser is not a direct diode laser, but a DPSS one. You can't shift its WL by freezing it. I believe the red diodes are the ones that shift the most from cooling, but I haven't thought about it for awhile.

 

[TinLethax]

I really want to try with my Sharp 515nm. Unfortunately I can't find the source for LN2.

 

[Wolfwood]

Check out local welding and gas supply shops for exotic gasses lots of times you can find liquid nitrogen at those places.

Thanks for the tips guys, i dont know if that will be a viable option for sustainted pcb cutting sessions but i will pass the info along.

 

[TinLethax]

Check out local welding and gas supply shops for exotic gasses lots of times you can find liquid nitrogen at those places.

Thanks for guiding me.