Gas Lasers? Tell me about them please :)

[ElektroFreak]

Sorry to confuse you.. I wasn't disagreeing, just building on part of what you said..

 

[GooeyGus]

Sorry to confuse you.. I wasn't disagreeing, just building on part of what you said..

Just ignore me... I shouldn't be allowed to post past 10pm :shhh:

 

[photonaholic]

Both belong in any serious collection.....

 

[nickgeddert]

I'm rather new to this site, and i was wondering how much a 500mW-1W laser would cost. I also was wondering which type of laser is cheepest (CO2, Argon, or HeNe)

Thanks

 

[GooeyGus]

get yourself a 1W IR diode... you can probably find one for $50

If you want a gas laser, it's a bit more difficult. HeNe's only go up to a few mW's max (I think the strongest was close to 200mW). CO2 lasers are great, but I dont think they make anything as low as 1W. Usually a 10W will be the lowest power CO2 laser you'll find, and they are invisible. Argon will get you where you need to be, .5W-1W, but it wont really be cheap. Probably a minimum of $500 for an HGM5, which will do about a watt CW with factory cooling. With increased cooling they can do a bit more (some go over 4W), but will really need a ton of cooling. The HGM5 requires 240V single phase. From there you can get a water cooled lexel which will run on single phase and do a few watts. Anything much bigger than a lexel 88 will be 3-phase.

 

[nickgeddert]

Do you know what store/site you can buy those from, and what housing it needs to have?
are these the diodes i need?
DealExtreme: $3.47 3W LED Emitter on Star (Multicolored RGB)
DealExtreme: $4.61 1W 850nm IR LED Emitter on Star (3.2V~3.5V 350mA)

 

[ElektroFreak]

Those are LED (light emmitting diodes). You need Laser Diodes.

 

[Cyparagon]

The most pressing question: What is your budget?

 

[nickgeddert]

I was thinking around $50-$100. And does anyone know if their is a store that sells these kind of things?

 

[Cyparagon]

Then a laser diode is your only option in that price range. And yeah, your local gas station sells laser diodes. Sometimes you can get one free with a 10 gallon gas purchase.

 

[nickgeddert]

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[photonaholic]

Our local gas station has LD for 2.99 next to the register.

Wal Mart wants a buck more, They carry Laser Diodes in the pet department.