Hey guys i was wondering (well my dad) if a simple battery powered handheld laser or a modified laser to work with a car cig lighter can produce a dot that would exceed or maintain 500 degrees F, or a page that teaches us on laser wavelengths and the heat it would produce at certain power levels. Thanks! -Ralph
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Lasers and temperature
- Thread starter cr_nxh
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Re: Lasers and temperature
In order to have the area covered by the laser beam spot reach anywhere near that high of a temperature regardless of the color of the surface you'll need an IR system. You could build one that runs from a cigarette lighter easily since most driver designs could be made to work with 13.8V input. An IR diode with an output over 1W would be necessary (the more powerful the better). C-mount diodes up to 5W are readily available, and are the only easy option if you want to keep the system physically small. As far as the design itself, you're on your own but i will say that cooling should be a high priority if you want to use it in sustained bursts.
Forum member billg519 has a lot of experience building extremely high-powered handheld lasers, so he would be a great person to ask about this..
In order to have the area covered by the laser beam spot reach anywhere near that high of a temperature regardless of the color of the surface you'll need an IR system. You could build one that runs from a cigarette lighter easily since most driver designs could be made to work with 13.8V input. An IR diode with an output over 1W would be necessary (the more powerful the better). C-mount diodes up to 5W are readily available, and are the only easy option if you want to keep the system physically small. As far as the design itself, you're on your own but i will say that cooling should be a high priority if you want to use it in sustained bursts.
Forum member billg519 has a lot of experience building extremely high-powered handheld lasers, so he would be a great person to ask about this..
billg519
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Re: Lasers and temperature
As you probably already know, different colored materials absorb laser energy differently. 100mW of bluray will burn a hole in white paper. To do the same thing with IR, I need 2+ watts. (unless I hit a tiny dirt spot)
My 2W 808nm handheld can ignite wood, but will not burn a yellow highlighter pen's cap. (Put a hole through the green highliter cap, though) Your heating effect is going to be very dependent on the target material. A high-powered UV laser would affect many materials, but is extremely dangerous (cancer hazard, DNA breakdown) and not usually terribly portable. Not really an experimenter's project, expensive and did I mention dangerous? Sorry I can't be more helpful, but the target material determines so much ...
As you probably already know, different colored materials absorb laser energy differently. 100mW of bluray will burn a hole in white paper. To do the same thing with IR, I need 2+ watts. (unless I hit a tiny dirt spot)
My 2W 808nm handheld can ignite wood, but will not burn a yellow highlighter pen's cap. (Put a hole through the green highliter cap, though) Your heating effect is going to be very dependent on the target material. A high-powered UV laser would affect many materials, but is extremely dangerous (cancer hazard, DNA breakdown) and not usually terribly portable. Not really an experimenter's project, expensive and did I mention dangerous? Sorry I can't be more helpful, but the target material determines so much ...
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Re: Lasers and temperature
How big of a spot? How well regulated must the temperature be? On what surface?
How big of a spot? How well regulated must the temperature be? On what surface?
wolfram
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Re: Lasers and temperature
Hey , as an avid welder, I can tell you that the frequency/power of uv light which is produced by a carbon arc welder is quite powerful ! if someone could focus the photoradiation (possible with some smaller units) and (disperse the enormous heat ) one could have powerful system (but one would need very good protective gear to avoid being ionized . a welders helmet with proper lense to start.
Hey , as an avid welder, I can tell you that the frequency/power of uv light which is produced by a carbon arc welder is quite powerful ! if someone could focus the photoradiation (possible with some smaller units) and (disperse the enormous heat ) one could have powerful system (but one would need very good protective gear to avoid being ionized . a welders helmet with proper lense to start.
