IR leakage

[Lethere Belight]

If you have IR leaking, does it pretty much travel with the beam and go where the beam goes, or is it being emitted to a larger and or different area?
I'm playing around a lot indoors. If am careful with the actual beam am I safe from the IR?

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Speaking from personal experiences, and observations, IR leakage can be anywhere between 2 and 60% of the total output of the laser.

The leak can be 808nm and 1064nm if you are dealing with a 532nm dpss module.

The IR will travel along the same same path as the visible beam, but is often not as focused, and diverges much faster than the visible beam.

In general if you are being careful with the visible beam, you are not likely to run into problems with the IR, as the visible light would be the bigger concern.

What kind of laser are you using? What power? Where is it from?

 

[Lethere Belight]

Now I have 130mw green from "laser pointer pro", have a 250 on the way.
Also going to try a Jayrob DIY kit.
I have a 50, 100, 150 module on order from o-like.
Just playing and learning at this point.
If these work out it onto some blues!

 

[Apocalypse]

Now I have 130mw green from "laser pointer pro", have a 250 on the way.
Also going to try a Jayrob DIY kit.
I have a 50, 100, 150 module on order from o-like.
Just playing and learning at this point.
If these work out it onto some blues!

You have safety glasses for these right? If you are really worried about IR you can test for it with a LPM and IR filters or a green blocking goggle... You can even use a camera without IR filters and just filter out the green light with the green blocking goggles. If you see a purplish white dot through the camera, then it is leaking IR. Do not look into the aperture even if you have the goggles blocking the green though since there may be IR coming out.

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

Do not look into the aperture even if you have the goggles blocking the green though since there may be IR coming out.

Regardless of goggles, or anything else....

NEVER, EVER, Look into the aperture of a laser.

This is as simple as laser safety, and gun safety gets... YOU DON'T LOOK DOWN THE BARREL OF A GUN :banghead: