How many diodes have you killed?

[Flaminpyro]

By turning the pot :eg:

2 x PHR-805T
2 x LPC-826
3 x 70mW green modules

Don't ask me how I killed 3 green modules, haha!

 

[JollyKillBill]

Ok I just killed my first diode R.I.P. little PHR-805 :angel:

 

[IsaacT]

Let's see.....

1 x A140
1 x M140
1 x 9mm 445nm
1 x LPC-826
2 x PHR-803T
1 x Mitsu 300mW

And for drivers like 3 microboosts and I also had to drill through a 17mm driver recently because I couldn't get it out of the damn brass ring in the pill....that was a sad sight. Good driver, too, but I got a cheaper diode and couldn't use the current from the one from the last diode.

 

[dethlore]

Thankfully, I've only ever killed 2 diodes. Both were crappy things I pulled out of old dvd drives and an old blu-ray player (not even a burner). The red one went up when I was experimenting with my first laser ever... wanted to see how far it would go, so that was on purpose. The 405 from the player was kinda the same thing. Wanted to see how bright it could get from a player diode and man, I was surprised how bright it got before it promptly faded off into LED mode. I can actually get a 5mw dot out of it still... if I drive it at >800mA!

 

[Speedy78]

One of my LED'd S06J will still emit a faint violet at 1.4A haha

 

[cev1]

I realize I'm coming from a different place (a research lab), but our diodes can cost over $10K. We usually run them far below spec to preserve lifetime. However, it is fairly routine to break a $3-$10K diode. I have a 375nm and 800nm that add up to $8K. Neither are really dead, they were just dying (lasing in a 1,0 mode) and are now in a drawer.
~C

 

[Speedy78]

I would love to see a picture of a 10k diode.

 

[LasersAndCoolStuff]

Don't worry. I've destroyed 3 already. lol

 

[djLscatt]

1 lpc826 : it was my first build , I broke the case pin .
1 s06j : the current was 600 ma.
I didn't break so many because I started building lasers only a year ago and I read lots of threads and I followed the advices.

 

[grainde]

1 lpc826 : it was my first build , I broke the case pin .

Are you sure its dead? If you broke the case pin it wouldnt matter...The diode is case negative so you can just run the neg through the module. If you broke the pos it would be a different matter...:beer:

 

[cev1]

You would be very disappointed. It is the same as a commercial SM diode, but just happens to output at a wavelength that exactly matches an atomic transition.

 

[DragonSoulSong]

You would be very disappointed. It is the same as a commercial SM diode, but just happens to output at a wavelength that exactly matches an atomic transition.

Now you have me curious, sir...precisely which wavelength and/or atomic transition are you speaking of? Owo

Dragon/Cody

 

[cheech226]

i've killed about 3 12x diodes, a few m140's, one 9mm 445, and a few lpc's. most often the cause was my impatience. or doing dumb shit.

 

[cev1]

You can look here:

University of Maryland Trapped Ion Quantum Information Group

Ca, Sr, Ba, Yb are most relevant. These elements have near-UV dipole transitions (blue arrows in the charts) and near-UV neutral S-P transitions (in text below each chart). Because temperature tuning is very poor for blue diodes, you have to find a diode with a free-running center wavelength within 1.0nm of the atomic transition. Note that the colors are generally barely outside the spec range for commercial diodes.

Nichia will pull "engineering" or "test" samples and wavelength select them. The special ones are sometimes sold directly (~3-5K). Others are snapped up by Toptica and re-sold for $8-$10K. This is a bargain compared to the only alternative: a second-harmonic generation (SHG) system, where you need a diode, tapered amplifier, and doubler (~$150k).

The funny thing is that any one of you could be sitting on a magic diode and never know it.

 

[dethlore]

You can look here:

University of Maryland Trapped Ion Quantum Information Group

Ca, Sr, Ba, Yb are most relevant. These elements have near-UV dipole transitions (blue arrows in the charts) and near-UV neutral S-P transitions (in text below each chart). Because temperature tuning is very poor for blue diodes, you have to find a diode with a free-running center wavelength within 1.0nm of the atomic transition. Note that the colors are generally barely outside the spec range for commercial diodes.

Nichia will pull "engineering" or "test" samples and wavelength select them. The special ones are sometimes sold directly (~3-5K). Others are snapped up by Toptica and re-sold for $8-$10K. This is a bargain compared to the only alternative: a second-harmonic generation (SHG) system, where you need a diode, tapered amplifier, and doubler (~$150k).

The funny thing is that any one of you could be sitting on a magic diode and never know it.

Guess it's time to get them all spectrod! So... what's the exact magic wavelength again?

 

[DragonSoulSong]

You can look here:

University of Maryland Trapped Ion Quantum Information Group

Ca, Sr, Ba, Yb are most relevant. These elements have near-UV dipole transitions (blue arrows in the charts) and near-UV neutral S-P transitions (in text below each chart). Because temperature tuning is very poor for blue diodes, you have to find a diode with a free-running center wavelength within 1.0nm of the atomic transition. Note that the colors are generally barely outside the spec range for commercial diodes.

Nichia will pull "engineering" or "test" samples and wavelength select them. The special ones are sometimes sold directly (~3-5K). Others are snapped up by Toptica and re-sold for $8-$10K. This is a bargain compared to the only alternative: a second-harmonic generation (SHG) system, where you need a diode, tapered amplifier, and doubler (~$150k).

The funny thing is that any one of you could be sitting on a magic diode and never know it.

Absolutely fascinating! I haven't seen something about quantum computing in quite a while! Its kind of strange to think that one of us could, in fact, have what would effectively be a multi-kilo-USD diode and not have the slightest clue. If I managed to kill a diode worth that much, I would probably have to weep a little. XD

Guess it's time to get them all spectrod! So... what's the exact magic wavelength again?

If I'm to judge from the diagrams on the site that cev linked, most of the transitions in question would seem to sit around 390nm-500nm, depending on the particular atom in question. My personal favorite being Barium, which looks to have excitation wavelengths of 493.5nm and 455.5nm, for its first and second excitation states, respectively. So...if we got ahold of a PL450B with a wavelength that's a tad long...? Its emission wavelengths caught my attention, too. It mostly re-emits in the red/infra-red, but there is one rather nice orange emission line at 614nm and a nice yellow line at 585.5nm...Barium vapor laser anyone? (I doubt such a laser exists, but I couldn't help but have that thought...)

Edit: On the note of a laser that uses Ba vapor as the lasing medium, a quick Google search proves that I could not have been more wrong...Ba-vapor lasers do exist, though they don't emit at the wavelengths that drive me to joke about it in the first place... Just an interesting side-note.