Do LD's have any burn in period

[sbdwag]

Do Laser diodes get brighter after they have been used for a while. Is there a peak brightness vs runtime that they follow. Reason is Im prettty sure that my 50mw greeny is getting stronger and brighter after about 5 hours of use.

Regards
sbdwag

 

[ElektroFreak]

I wouldn't be surprised to find that your greenie displays some power instability. It's very commonplace among cheap green pointers since there's no power control circuitry involved. DPSS lasers are inherently unstable and this can manifest itself in many ways. Power fluctuations can range from hundreds per second to a very gradual increase or decrease in output over hours. It is unlikely that the pump diode is producing more power than it was before, but not impossible.

Here's a link that may help you understand what is happening.