How's the divergence on the Sharp 488nm GH04850B2G 55mW laser diodes?

[Voldy356]

I might do a 488 build sometime in the future, so I was wondering how bad (or good) is the divergence and "range" of the laser.

 

[Alien Laser]

Its very good well single mode diodes have the best divergence when compared to multi mode diodes

 

[Voldy356]

Its very good well single mode diodes have the best divergence when compared to multi mode diodes

Wait, on it's own or with a lens? If the latter which do you reckon I should use? Which will give me the best beam specifications?

 

[GSS]

There's really the one 488nm diode. "well 2 but the sharp is by far the cheapest. It's considered a single mode I guess.
All diodes need lenses if that is your question. The Sharp diode's that I have, give a nice and pretty tight spot wise.
Common issue is a box reflection with a G2 and maby another lens that doesn't rob much power. A 3 element lens or a acrylic lens tames the box reflection well..
Other's will probably chime in..

 

[Deleted member 17304]

Yes these are single mode. Not sure how to define the range you're looking for, but I can help with divergence figures:

The divergence on the latest single mode sharp diodes is fantastic, when focused to infinity the spot I have is 5mm at aperture, and 6mm at 15m - roughly ~0.07 mrad if I'm calculating it correctly. These are wild.

Pic is from the initial sample run of them in the 475-480 range, but the divergence is identical to the production run of the 488's.

https://imgur.com/psr9WHF

 

[paul1598419]

All of the Sharp diodes we got from the first 473nm-480nm to the last 505nm diodes have all been single mode diodes. Some have been wildly over driven to get to 200 mW, but most do well limited to 140 mW or lower.