Hi,
Been reading the forums for a while. Just haven't had a reason to post. So It's probably time.
I've been playing with LD modules since they first started to come out. 650/635nm reds and a few 880nm (I think) from old laser printers, etc 20+ years ago.
Currently have a green 250mW Wicked pointer, and a few 2W and 7W ~450nm modules. Have a few 1064nm laser spot welders at work (hole drillers, if set correctly). One is an enclosed frame Rofin, the other is a laser star open unit (A bit scary to operate, 80W unit, with XYZ table, and microscope head with cross hairs, and no other protection!)
I built an all digital constant current driver based on a microchip PIC a few years ago. Intended as a XML LED driver, but ended up using it for the 2W blues. Been glued to a board with a LD in a custom heat sink since.
Eventually, I'd like to find a few watt 405nm-ish LD for an engraver. Have a few CNC machines at home, and sometimes it would be neat to try some laser marking/cutting of thin material. Something with a very small spot size would be nice (the 2W ~450nm units have a large spot... ).
At work we had an application where we needed a very high rise rate step change in temperature. The solution was to use four 7W Modules pointed at a 1mm spot to generate the temperature change within the spot. I designed a custom constant current driver that turns the diode current on to full power in ~15nS, with no overshoot (ok, a few %, but nothing major). The diodes light output rises from zero to full power in about 15 to 20nS (Yes, nanoseconds, verified with a thor labs photo diode).
Currently we're looking for a Laser Power Meter capable of checking the actual output power of each of the 7W modules, and that's how I ended up back here on the forum again. However, one guy here just ordered a Thor Labs LPM, so I think that problem is solved now...
Anyway, Hi to all of you out there!
Dan
Been reading the forums for a while. Just haven't had a reason to post. So It's probably time.
I've been playing with LD modules since they first started to come out. 650/635nm reds and a few 880nm (I think) from old laser printers, etc 20+ years ago.
Currently have a green 250mW Wicked pointer, and a few 2W and 7W ~450nm modules. Have a few 1064nm laser spot welders at work (hole drillers, if set correctly). One is an enclosed frame Rofin, the other is a laser star open unit (A bit scary to operate, 80W unit, with XYZ table, and microscope head with cross hairs, and no other protection!)
I built an all digital constant current driver based on a microchip PIC a few years ago. Intended as a XML LED driver, but ended up using it for the 2W blues. Been glued to a board with a LD in a custom heat sink since.
Eventually, I'd like to find a few watt 405nm-ish LD for an engraver. Have a few CNC machines at home, and sometimes it would be neat to try some laser marking/cutting of thin material. Something with a very small spot size would be nice (the 2W ~450nm units have a large spot... ).
At work we had an application where we needed a very high rise rate step change in temperature. The solution was to use four 7W Modules pointed at a 1mm spot to generate the temperature change within the spot. I designed a custom constant current driver that turns the diode current on to full power in ~15nS, with no overshoot (ok, a few %, but nothing major). The diodes light output rises from zero to full power in about 15 to 20nS (Yes, nanoseconds, verified with a thor labs photo diode).
Currently we're looking for a Laser Power Meter capable of checking the actual output power of each of the 7W modules, and that's how I ended up back here on the forum again. However, one guy here just ordered a Thor Labs LPM, so I think that problem is solved now...
Anyway, Hi to all of you out there!
Dan
