Broken Diode.... Maybe?

[Kdj1996]

Hey everyone. I'm new to this forum, and i need some help. I built a roughly 1.2 watt 445nm laser a few months ago. It was my first homemade laser as well as my most powerful. I really enjoy using it for burning and just for looking at in the dark. Last night i was using it and it suddenly became very dull to the point where it was hard to see in the dark. Now i dont know too much about laser technology as i am fairly new to this, but i tried charging up the batteries and using them in it and another laser and it was obvious that was not the problem. I am worried that the diode is broken which would suck because i dont have the money for another one and I probably dont have the tools needed to fix it. Thanks in advanced and i look forward to your help.

 

[KrowBar]

If the output of your laser looks more like an LED then a laser, then there aren't any tools that you could borrow to fix it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like that diode is probably toast.

 

[Kdj1996]

Damn that sucks. It doesnt seem like it shouldve burnt out so fast, I built it in like march. Any ideas on what may have happened?

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Did it dim while it was on or did you turn it off
then on again and then it dimmed?

In the case of the former, who the hell knows?
In the case of the latter, it was probably
overshoot and the driver is suspect.

 

[Kdj1996]

It was while it was on unfortunately

 

[KRNAZNBOY]

It was while it was on unfortunately

Did you leave it on for too long? If you exceeded the duty cycle, the diode could have LED'd from getting too hot!

Pictures of your setup would be nice

:beer:
-Matt

 

[Kdj1996]

I didnt leave it on very long at all, like 15 seconds. Ill post pics later as i am not really in a place where i can do that right now.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

My guess is that it might have been latent optical
damage possibly caused by ESD during assembly.

 

[littenhope]

laser diodes aren't always known to die that fast but it seems to me that it could have gotten too hot. there really is nothing you can do without getting a new one.
sorry i couldn't help more.