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FrozenGate by Avery

Combining laser beams?

8

88mkiii

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Ok im wanting to build my first laser gun but im aiming big and powerful. there are a few things im trying to work out one of whitch is how to combine 17 300mW laser beams into one 5W beam. I was thinking of using a large convex lens and then using a laser pointer lens at the focal point to make it into a beam again. dose any one know if this might work?

the other thing i was wondering was how to regulat the power output to the diods. All my DC electrical experiance is automotive so im not sure hoe to go about this. if ant one has some advice for a new commer into lasers let me know!
 





Welcome and good luck on your project.
I would guess you have a decent knowledge of electrical stuff and LOTS of money to play with. Or you are in for some surprises.
 
My advice is to start small. I would build a cheap single diode set up first. The a 2 diode set up using a PBS cube. When your skills are up to par, I'd go with the recommended knife edging to combine and a power supply, then connect all your diodes in series, but you'll need them electrically isolated from each other if you'll be using red.

Michael.
 
ok good tips i think ill start with 4 300mW diods to get the hang of the wiring and to play with diff ways to combine the beams but if any ones got links to places where i can get a constant power supply let me know
 
Combining more than 2 of the same wavelength requires knife edging. The flex mod p3 is a great driver that can supply up to 3 amps. They a little hard to come by though


Michael
 
88mkiii said:
ok good tips i think ill start with 4 300mW diods to get the hang of the wiring and to play with diff ways to combine the beams but if any ones got links to places where i can get a constant power supply let me know
Click to expand...

Constant current, now power. It has to regular the current (Amps). If you don't need to modulate the laser you can make your own with an LM317 (Goggle DIY laser driver) or you can get an E-Drive or some other handheld laser driver.

As Chip said, the Flexmod P3 would be ideal for this, but they are really scarce at the moment.
 
If you want some more power and an even more visible wavelength(635nm is sort of an orange/red color) I would suggest this diode here:
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/mitsubishi-635nm-300mw-diodes

If you want to go for a more exotic color you could use these 445nm(blue) diodes:
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/450nm-pl450-diodes

Or if you want more(way way more) power at the 445nm wavelength you could use these:
https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/445-m140-didoes

As for a driver, you could drive each diode with a separate driver(for longevity and stability I would suggest this) using a small Mohgasm linear driver or an X-Drive buck driver that can be found at cajunlasers.com.
 
Last edited:
ok cool and i was planing on doing a driver in each diode, no when you buy a laser with a lens the lens is what focuses the beam right?
 
Well pulse lasers are a whole other ball game...they use a flash lamp pulsing intense uv light into, generally a YAG crystal rod. Wich emits a very short, very high power pulse of light.

If you are wanting to pulse the set up...you'll have to do it by the main power, or a trigger type one shot switch. There is a thread on here somewhere about pulsing a set up...
 
flare09 said:
Well pulse lasers are a whole other ball game...they use a flash lamp pulsing intense uv light into, generally a YAG crystal rod. Wich emits a very short, very high power pulse of light.

If you are wanting to pulse the set up...you'll have to do it by the main power, or a trigger type one shot switch. There is a thread on here somewhere about pulsing a set up...
Click to expand...

That's one way to do it. Some pulse lasers use such complicated mechanisms and physics that they are rather hard to understand let alone explain lol. One purpose to a pulse laser is that you can get massive power bursts for super short periods of time that are many times more powerful than can be sustained by the laser itself and/or the power supply. I have seen pulse lasers that pulse several millions of watts of power in bursts of millionths of a second for use in analyzing properties and compositions of materials.
 
That may be true... But I think the YAG set up would be the most affordable set up if the op wants a high power pulse...unless he wants to go with mil spec prototype diodes...
 
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