I joined this board a couple of months ago to learn about Blu-Ray lasers; y'all have been very helpful. Now I see several folks interested in what their Blu-Ray can do with these rocks. Thought I might post a little thread to introduce everyone to what I know of this world...
Certain minerals react to UV light and emit a "glow" - often a very bright color completely different from the rock in its natural state Blu-Ray diodes emit 405nm light - close to longwave UV (350nm to 400nm) and they will cause lots of minerals to glow bright and unusual colors. To get more colors/brighter colors you have to move to UV lamps and special filters so that's out of the realm of this post.
You can find these minerals most anywhere. Go to rock shows, museums, or even in your yard. Light up a bunch of rocks and odds are you'll find something that glows (most commonly a white glow from calcite). If you're lucky enough to live near a mineral rich area your odds go way up... (I live in TN - nothing but limestone)
On another note - I have heard reports of fluorescence caused by IR in some minerals. I attend a lot of mineral shows and one guy is always hovering over my tables (in the dark) with a TV remote looking for "electron traps" caused by the IR diode. I kinda dismissed him as a little kookier than the rest of us "glowhounds" but now am wondering if anyone has tried their IR laser on rocks? I wonder if it would be worth my while to use the IR diode from this now defunct LG deck to make an IR laser.....
Below is a short list of minerals you might encounter and the colors they ought to glow using a Blu-Ray LD: (there are may more, but with complex names, and rare)
Sodalite - orange
Fluorite - blue
Wernerite - yellow
Willemite - green
Aragonite - green
Autunite (uranium mineral) - bright green
Hyalite opal - bright green (caused by uranium impurities)
Ruby, Spinel - deep red
Diamond - blue, yellow, ???
Calcite - white, orange, green, +++
Powellite - yellow
Scapolite - red, yellow
One very interesting mineral is Franklin calcite. It glows a bright orange under SW (254nm) UV light. Under ordinary longwave UV it doesn't do much. But with the Blu-Ray you can actually write your name in the rock (the mineral is phosphorescent, and the laser leaves an orange trail as you move it across the surface - a brief glow, but neat.)
Another neat toy/accessory for the Blu-Ray is phosphorecent/fluorescent paints. You can buy them in several places and the Blu-Ray causes a glow that lasts for hours.
Below is a pic of a piece of sodalite from Greenland lit up by a 85mw Blu-Ray (alternating between its natural color, and the fluorescent color). The pic was taken with a 1 sec time exposure while moving the LD in a "circle" over the rock to illuminate the entire surface. I also used a yellow photography filter to reduce the voilet light from the laser and show the true color of the fluorescence.
Certain minerals react to UV light and emit a "glow" - often a very bright color completely different from the rock in its natural state Blu-Ray diodes emit 405nm light - close to longwave UV (350nm to 400nm) and they will cause lots of minerals to glow bright and unusual colors. To get more colors/brighter colors you have to move to UV lamps and special filters so that's out of the realm of this post.
You can find these minerals most anywhere. Go to rock shows, museums, or even in your yard. Light up a bunch of rocks and odds are you'll find something that glows (most commonly a white glow from calcite). If you're lucky enough to live near a mineral rich area your odds go way up... (I live in TN - nothing but limestone)
On another note - I have heard reports of fluorescence caused by IR in some minerals. I attend a lot of mineral shows and one guy is always hovering over my tables (in the dark) with a TV remote looking for "electron traps" caused by the IR diode. I kinda dismissed him as a little kookier than the rest of us "glowhounds" but now am wondering if anyone has tried their IR laser on rocks? I wonder if it would be worth my while to use the IR diode from this now defunct LG deck to make an IR laser.....
Below is a short list of minerals you might encounter and the colors they ought to glow using a Blu-Ray LD: (there are may more, but with complex names, and rare)
Sodalite - orange
Fluorite - blue
Wernerite - yellow
Willemite - green
Aragonite - green
Autunite (uranium mineral) - bright green
Hyalite opal - bright green (caused by uranium impurities)
Ruby, Spinel - deep red
Diamond - blue, yellow, ???
Calcite - white, orange, green, +++
Powellite - yellow
Scapolite - red, yellow
One very interesting mineral is Franklin calcite. It glows a bright orange under SW (254nm) UV light. Under ordinary longwave UV it doesn't do much. But with the Blu-Ray you can actually write your name in the rock (the mineral is phosphorescent, and the laser leaves an orange trail as you move it across the surface - a brief glow, but neat.)
Another neat toy/accessory for the Blu-Ray is phosphorecent/fluorescent paints. You can buy them in several places and the Blu-Ray causes a glow that lasts for hours.
Below is a pic of a piece of sodalite from Greenland lit up by a 85mw Blu-Ray (alternating between its natural color, and the fluorescent color). The pic was taken with a 1 sec time exposure while moving the LD in a "circle" over the rock to illuminate the entire surface. I also used a yellow photography filter to reduce the voilet light from the laser and show the true color of the fluorescence.
And it gives a whole new dimension to my portable tube.I can see cardboard fluorescing where paint is really thin on my wall, this was drowned in the dim, visible violet glow that is now blocked.I ordered the DX led pack , I hope those are gonna be better but I think I'm gonna look for a more powerful portable tube, the one I have is rather lowpowered(or maybe some shorter wave LEDs, but I guess those are expensive...).This really got me interested in building a blu-ray too, I just have to have one now. 
It was switches mention of scorpions that got me shining my blue ray on invertebrates, my co-workers think I have a screw loose 
