lasers that work at very low temps ??

[PaulBluesky]

Anybody done any experiments to see if any lasers work at low tempretures .. such as under zero degrees ??

i know green .. 532nm .. dont work , they just fade , do any other colours hold there own at very low temps ?

P

 

[MarioMaster]

Greens don't work well at low temperatures since they use a pair of crystals to convert light from an IR laser diode into green, and the properties in the crystals required for the wavelength conversion depends on temperature. If you have a good quality DPSS system with TEC temperature regulation then it will probably work in cold temperatures. Cheap ones do not. (basically no handheld lasers have this)

As for lasers that will work at low temperatures, any laser that outputs light directly from a laser diode. (405nm violet, 445nm blue, 650nm red, 808nm infrared, etc). Solid state lasers may also work at low temperatures such as flashlamp pumped ruby or Nd:YAG, although I'm not sure of this. some Gas lasers should also work below freezing like argon/krypton ion lasers, helium neon lasers, carbon dioxide lasers, etc) although most in that list will quickly heat themselves up shortly after being turned on

 

[PaulBluesky]

"405nm violet, 445nm blue, 650nm red"

How LOW will they go and which goes the lowest

Any work at sub zero ?

 

[MarioMaster]

all of those diodes should continue to function even if you submerged them in liquid nitrogen. You would really only potentially have issues if you started reaching temperatures where normal elements become superconductors (not going to happen unless you have access to a fancy cryogenics research lab)

I've personally taken a 650nm red diode to -100F with my 2-stage refrigeration system with no problems

 

[InfinitusEquitas]

I've used a 445 outside when it was ~10F many times. No problems whatsoever.

With diode laser pointers, I would imagine the battery would be the weak link. I'm not a battery expert, but I remember reading about lithium batteries and that they don't function as well in even moderately extreme temperatures. IIRC below 10 celsius.