gonna try a 375nm pointer build...

[NightExplorer96]

Bummer! Sorry to hear about that styropyro.

-Alex

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Who else has manufactured UV laser diodes in the past? Not sdisagreeing with you, just curious on where the diode came from. I have no clue what it was actually rated for, but going off of old Nichia datasheets it took nearly double the rated current of those to lase. I used what was likely an AixiZ glass lens for 405nm and it didn't absorb much. My meter isn't precise at low powers but the difference between the raw output and the output with a lens was around 1mW. It was cool while it lasted for sure...doubt I'll get another one so cheap for a long time.

Not sure. It could very well be a Nichia-just not the current model that they have a spec sheet for. the new ones are rated for a much higher output. There's an older one that was rated more like 15mW or so. The coherent Cubes used it, and usually are doing 16mW or so. my melles griot RCS is usually running about 10, but it goes higher, though forgive me for not testing the limits of it. I'd hate to damage it for obvious reasons.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Tested my 375 labby. Just for reference I have it set at 75mA, and it is doing 9.6mW at a very slightly chilled temp. so maybe you can find something with that info? I haven't yet.

 

[styropyro]

I ruled out the Nichia NDU4116 and NDU7216E as those are 4 pin and mine is 3 pin. I did find an old datasheet for the Nichia NDU1113E, and that was 3 pin, but IIRC the threshold current was still much lower than my diode. I'm definitely jealous of your cube though lol. There was a time when those cubes were showing up on ebay for $400~$600 and I was tempted to buy one but couldn't cough up the cash. I would have torn it down for a handheld build just like this one.

 

[Zom-B]

The threshold current of your sample could be higher because it was defective in the first place (and the unit you extracted it from didn't lase).

 

[ultimatekaiser]

I ruled out the Nichia NDU4116 and NDU7216E as those are 4 pin and mine is 3 pin. I did find an old datasheet for the Nichia NDU1113E, and that was 3 pin, but IIRC the threshold current was still much lower than my diode. I'm definitely jealous of your cube though lol. There was a time when those cubes were showing up on ebay for $400~$600 and I was tempted to buy one but couldn't cough up the cash. I would have torn it down for a handheld build just like this one.

It's not a cube, it's an RCS. Though, yeah I remember those when they were on sale too...though frankly that'd be a waste tearing something like that apart, assuming you could even get it out. (probably) The cube is small enough though frankly to be made into a somewhat large handheld in that setup anyway. I'd never waste a 10K+ laser in such a way.

 

[styropyro]

Don't know why I assumed it was a cube...and understandable that you wouldn't want to tear down a laser that cost so much new, removing its corrective optics and power control. That being said the urge to be the first one to own a true UV laser pointer was a very strong drive, and I'd do it again to own a UV laser pointer

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Lol it is cool! I just find that realistically you can get the same effect from a lot of other sources for far cheaper. I find the 325 from a hecd is more interesting in many cases.