EVER KILLED A DIODE?? see this..

[lasersbee]

With a screaming shining roasted diode :can:

If the "Protector" PCB circuit works there should not be any roasting of
LDs...


Jerry

 

[rhd]

If the "Protector" PCB circuit works there should not be any roastigg of
LDs...


Jerry

Yes - if your LDs are roasting, then this protector isn't a very good protector

I've got 15 of these, I'd like to send some off to people who will be really critical of it.

Keep in mind that this is the RED/Blu-Ray version, so it won't work with 445 or IR.

 

[Bluefan]

Red and blu-ray works and 445nm and ir not? I'd expect it to be depending on the voltage drop, which would mean red and IR OR bluray and 445nm would work.

Anyway, I'll pm you soon, I'm interested in testing one of these and although I haven't got special ESD stuff I can go a very long way.

 

[rhd]

Red and blu-ray works and 445nm and ir not? I'd expect it to be depending on the voltage drop, which would mean red and IR OR bluray and 445nm would work.

Anyway, I'll pm you soon, I'm interested in testing one of these and although I haven't got special ESD stuff I can go a very long way.

I know it seems that way - but it wasn't a type, this model really is for Red OR Blu-Ray.

The secret is TVS used. It's a two-diode SOT-23 package, and the circuit is arranged such that with a solder bridge you either select (basically) both diodes for blu-ray or just one for red.

 

[Pangolin]

That was funny watching Mr. Pangolin squirm. Notice he intentionally skips HIMNL9s post, twice, LMAO.

Hehe. Well certainly I didn't "squirm" and also didn't mean to "intentionally skip" any posts.

As I wrote in my first post, I don't come onto this forum very often. Another Pangolin client called this thread to my attention, and by that time already there were a lot of posts in response to what Len had to say.

Anyway, in going through the many posts, I tried to pick posts with the most relevant questions. Some people were saying the same thing as others, so I picked and chose what I thought to be the most relevant. Although some posts weren't worded very nicely, I thought generally all of the comments and questions were valid, and I so tried to answer.

I'm still not sure which HIMNL9 posts you are referring to -- I mean, specifically. If there are specific legitimate questions that I "skipped over", then I'd be happy to answer. Generally I'd say that what's on the LASORB web site should really cover the topic pretty well and give direct answers, or at least give answers by way of inference. However, if there really is new territory to cover, then I'd be happy to hear legitimate questions, and get some clear answers put onto the LASORB web site. We really do intend it to be a good resource.

In any event, I think the most important questions are 1) does LASORB work, 2) will a lower cost solution work?

Regarding question 1,

1. LASORB was released in 2009, and by now the biggest and most prestigeous companies in the world are using it in their laser diode driver circuits.

2. In 2009, at Photonics West trade show, we had to beg laser companies to give us time to make a presentation. At the 2012 Photonics West, now those same companies are coming to our booth, begging us to give them a demonstration.

These two pheonomenons would not be happening if LASORB didn't work, or if there was another solution that worked even nearly as well, but for far less money.

Regarding question 2,

Once a person understands what ESD is, how it affects heterojunction-based products, and specifically the damage mechanisms of a laser diode, the person would understand that only something that functions like LASORB works can *possibly* protect a laser diode. Nothing else can. (And anything that functions like LASORB would be covered by our patent.)

A TVS or voltage clamping approach can not protect a laser diode because even if the voltage was chosen exactly to match the operating voltage of a laser diode, that operating voltage changes with time and temperature, and, moreover, if you look at datasheets that show TVS operating during an ESD event (or use a fast scope to look at it as we have), you'll see that during an ESD event, the voltage rises to perhaps 20 or even 50 volts above the nominal operating voltage. This only happens for a brief time, and for standard silicon parts with a simple PN junction, a TVS would protect them with no problem, but for a heterojunction part with delicate mirror coating like a laser diode, a TVS, Zener, Schottky, etc. voltage clamping approach simply will not work.

Remember, when Pangolin got into this business, it was not our intention to make an ESD protector. It was our intention to make a laser diode driver for a military application which required great ESD protection. We examined the ESD protection approaches used by all others because we figured someone else would have solved that problem already, and we'd just use their approach. What we found was, when we tested other people's drivers with real ESD, nobody had adequetely solved it already. That discovered surprised us, and at that point, we believed the problem was simply not solvable.

However, through a lot of development, eventually we made our laser diode driver including our protection approach. It wasn't until months later that we decided to extract that protection approach and sell it as a separate product.

Ultimately I am not here to make sales, because especially when compared with the volume of sales coming from industrial companies now, a few sales to folks on Laser Pointer Forums won't affect our bank account. So if you think this is about money, you're wrong! Rather, I am posting only to answer questions and clear up any misinformation.

Regarding Len's original post, I really do believe he's a good guy with the best intentions in mind, and someone who is really trying to help.

I've always been behind creativity.

AHA, we have too. I hope you'll agree that it takes creativity to solve a problem that's been around for a long time, ultimately to come up with a solution that garners patents and is currently in high demand!



Best regards,

William Benner