hypothetical thread

[ogre]

so what is the likelyhood of a handheld 1W diy laser being built in the next year? i mean the blu ray guys are getting almost 700mW out of 12x diodes. a bit more power supply and driver development and a 20x burner, do you guys think it's possible?

 

[ElektroFreak]

If you mean blu-ray specifically, it's very possible. There are already 1W IR handhelds.

 

[photonaholic]

beat me to the punch line EF.

seen Hemlock Mike's C02 "handheld"???

that bad boy throws out some wattage.

 

[Greenmechanic]

If laser technology follows the microchip trend, IE: 2X every 6 months, then I'd say it's almost certain to happen.
With the progress of 4+ layer Blu-Rays, company's are going to have to make stronger diodes.
I read an article that stated within 2-3 years there will be DVD's the size of a quarter that can hold 10-12 full movies.
That means very strong, very focused LD's. The LD is the only roadblock right now. Very small drivers can (and have for some time) been able to produce up to 1.5A (Flex V5)
I predicted on another post, that within 5 years or so, there will be on demand full color hand held lasers.
With a slider switch for R,O,Y,G,B,V,+W
(at the very least ,RGB LD's with optic combiners built in.) These will produce all colors including white, although not at single frequency. For most of us (hobbist's) it is the color produced that matters, not that the light is monochromatic, W/ some exceptions.

 

[RA_pierce]

The V4/V5 flex can only produce 1.5A at 2.2V. Dr.Lava is working on a new driver that will be able to handle higher forward voltage while supplying very high current.

Something to remember when we are talking about very high power laser diodes... We run them here above their specifications.
According to Igor's testing, we can safely assume 100+ hours of run time for an 8X run CW above it's pulsed rating, but that is not a long life compared to the >5000 hours they are rated for when run on spec.

So if we are talking about attaining 1W from a single-mode Violet diode, it has already been done. Hemlock Mike reported a reading of ~1W from his 12X on one occasion.
If we are talking about single-mode laser diodes designed to produce 1W CW in a 5.6mm package with >5000 hours MTTF, we still have some time before that happens.

Another way to increase the burn speed of a burner is to use more efficient optics, etc. There is no guarantee a higher write speed burner will use a higher power diode. We have seen this with the 4X/6X mess. After all, the diode is the most expensive part of the drive and a manufacturer's goal is to increase profits by minimizing expenses.

I think that data storage media will switch to memory cards or other non-disc types before we see that kind of power in disc writers.

If laser technology follows the microchip trend, IE: 2X every 6 months, then I'd say it's almost certain to happen.
With the progress of 4+ layer Blu-Rays, company's are going to have to make stronger diodes.
I read an article that stated within 2-3 years there will be DVD's the size of a quarter that can hold 10-12 full movies.
That means very strong, very focused LD's. The LD is the only roadblock right now. Very small drivers can (and have for some time) been able to produce up to 1.5A (Flex V5)
I predicted on another post, that within 5 years or so, there will be on demand full color hand held lasers.
With a slider switch for R,O,Y,G,B,V,+W
(at the very least ,RGB LD's with optic combiners built in.) These will produce all colors including white, although not at single frequency. For most of us (hobbist's) it is the color produced that matters, not that the wavelength is pure, W/ some exceptions.

 

[Greenmechanic]

RA_pierce:I think that data storage media will switch to memory cards or other non-disc types before we see that kind of power in disc writers.

They are working on a lot of promising data storage types.
Including nanomaterials and Optical storage, I've even read about a Petabyte,(BTW:that's 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) Fluid-based storage system.
So you have a very valid point. There comes a point where a certain technology becomes obsolete and a new technology overtakes it.
Although I would not want $10K worth of movies on a electrical (or other) storage device. We all know that electrical devices never crash.LOL So I don't think the tangible storage media will ever disappear.

RA_pierce:The V4/V5 flex can only produce 1.5A at 2.2V. Dr.Lava is working on a new driver that will be able to handle higher forward voltage while supplying very high current.

Thanks for the clarification. I've missed that point in the 10X I've read the manual.:banghead: (I guess because I wasn't working anywhere near that current.):thanks: