HeNe Rainbow

[Flaminpyro]

Thanks for sharing the beams it's not every day we get to see a rainbow on here :wave:

 

[aryntha]

man. i gotta do somma that with some 604 now. hoo-hoo.

 

[hakzaw1]

man. i gotta do somma that with some 604 now. hoo-hoo.

^^^ VERY nice to have you back Matt- ~4 months absence is too long for our master wavelength collector-
may 2013 be a better year for all of us..

cheerz--Len:wave:

Hope you can make another SELEM event and can come earlier and stay longer this time--lol:na:

 

[Roam]

I must say your camera picked up the yellow more like fluorescent yellow of a highlighter pen, but in person 594 nm looks a lot warmer like a beautiful sunset yellow.

Here are a few pics of my yeenee (yellow HeeNee) I didn't have a fog machine to properly enhance the beam, but still I think my camera picked it up more accurately:

With lights on:

OP's one is in metal case but the gas-discharge plasma is a beautiful pink colour... it pretty much dominates the whole room with lights off.

The mode pattern:

 

[daguin]

Peace,
dave

 

[Kartracer00]

I love how HeNes have that white light at the aperture. Adds more of a 'visual sensation'

 

[hakzaw1]

Nice photo daguin-- +3 for the purdy litz!!

 

[daguin]

Nice photo daguin-- +3 for the purdy litz!!

Thanks

Do you think I should have included my IR Hene in the picture? :crackup:

Peace,
dave

 

[Meatball]

Wow. Thanks for that (for me) blast from the past!

Several decades ago I went to a laser expo/conference (CLEO?,?) in L.A., and on the vendor exhibit floor the Particle Measuring Systems booth had a bunch of the colored HeNes in a rack to showcase their manufacturing capabilities and product rollout. Keep in mind that HeNe colors other than red were a very new and different thing and pretty much unobtainium back then, and I was totally mesmerized at the sight. The kicker for me though was another HeNe they had on a table, with a pale golden beam, shining through a diffraction grating, and yes, there on the wall were the spots, all four colors, from the same laser! Unfortunately, they were not planning on actually making and selling THAT one of course [..-( however shortly afterward they marketed one-and two- line versions, and did so for many years. I still have a working 1mW yellow that I bought from them a few years after that show.

One notable thing about the yellow laser, I found that if I placed a microscope slide against the output end, it would provide enough feedback to make the red line oscillate, but it tended to "take over" and kill the yellow; try as i might I couldn't get it to do two lines at once (darn!).

Yes, you can take a green or yellow HeNe and add an additional OC and HR on the outside of the tube and coax the 640, 612, 633, and 640nm lines to pulsate in and out of lasing. The effect lacks stability for other reasons, but its been well documented. The external mirrors would need the appropriate coatings for ~630nm. AR and HR coatings etc.

 

[Jimmymcjimthejim]

Thanks everyone for replying!

@cheech226:
Of course! Just curious, whatever happened to your 612nm HeNe? Do you still have it?

@Roam:
I didn't even know that standalone 604nm lasers existed! Is there any evidence of these?
The ghosts around the dot tend to be pretty arbitrary; they're probably caused by some sort of mirror misalignment.

@Teslanium:
That's awesome! I wasn't even alive several decades ago. I'm glad that my pictures could take you back. I haven't tried putting anything in front of the beam to cause the other lines to lase; I'll have to try that sometime.

@Jchad20:
Absolutely! The colors are vibrant without being painful to look at. In my opinion, too much of the forum is interested in burning things and overlooks the beauty of different types/colors of lasers. Maybe this post will change that

@Kartracer00:
Gas lasers are cool! I think that part of the reason why they seem so much more appealing is the gaussian beam profile that's perfectly round.

@Flaminpyro:
No problem! Now you can see a rainbow every day, should you desire

@aryntha:
Yes! That would be awesome. How noticeable is the color difference between 604nm and 612nm?

@Roam (your second post):
Yeah, the yellow laser is much too yellow in my pictures. It's more of a golden amber color. Your first picture looks about right

@daguin:
I was just looking for that picture! Can I join the club now?:bowdown:

 

[icecruncher]

Jealous of the orange's.

Wow, very nice.

It's a real tug to decide when buying between the HeNe lasers and the Argon/Krypton style. But, I love seeing these pics. Thanks for sharing.