Looking for yellow laser

[wolfram]

what about just frequency doubling cheaper diodes?

 

[Photon Master]

I’ve been carrying my 1.2 watt green copper Sanwu around. About the size of my thumb with an 18350 if I don’t have the beam expander on the end

 

[PineyTinecones]

I’ve seen encap reference the aliexpress lasers twice now in this thread, but no one said anything in response. I would link them again but I don’t have enough posts under my belt to link anything.

Is this a good, reliable enough laser for a newbie? $300 is a lot, so I would hate to buy some junk. I would LOVE a yellow beam. Thoughts? It says 5mw, is this an accurate approximation or are these likely overspec?
Thanks!

Interesting thread, btw.

 

[gazer101]

I’ve seen encap reference the aliexpress lasers twice now in this thread, but no one said anything in response. I would link them again but I don’t have enough posts under my belt to link anything.

Is this a good, reliable enough laser for a newbie? $300 is a lot, so I would hate to buy some junk. I would LOVE a yellow beam. Thoughts? It says 5mw, is this an accurate approximation or are these likely overspec?
Thanks!

Interesting thread, btw.

Those were Alibaba lasers afaik, and for $300 its a bargain (not to say I'd ever buy it, why buy $300 of yellow when I could buy a $5 laser of the same power just 20 nm away)

 

[CurtisOliver]

Those were Alibaba lasers afaik, and for $300 its a bargain (not to say I'd ever buy it, why buy $300 of yellow when I could buy a $5 laser of the same power just 20 nm away)

Just 20nm away? $5?
What 569 or 609nm DPSS are you getting for $5 exactly?
Also 20nm is a lot of difference in that part of the spectrum. That is literally green or orange. You skip yellow entirely.
20nm is even enough difference to tell the least responsive part of the green spectrum apart. Why fly to New York when its only got an ocean between us? I'll swim as its the cheaper option.

Also wolfram, if it was that easy. I think many would of done it by now. Including those working in labs. Crystals need appropriate phase matching. They need coatings. And directly doubling diodes doesn't give as nice beam specs as pumping a solid state before it.

 

[Photon Master]

Ya I’d buy a yellow/gold beam in heartbeat. I have half a dozen blues if I’m looking for raw power

 

[PineyTinecones]

I’ve been carrying my 1.2 watt green copper Sanwu around. About the size of my thumb with an 18350 if I don’t have the beam expander on the end

When you say “copper Sanwu”, are you referring to their “Red Guardian” model? I was just eyeballing the hell out of that one on their website.

It’s definitely a contender for my next purchase. I was just trying to decide if I wanted a 488/492, or a 1w green one (if I do go with the Cu Guardian, that is). That Cyan sure is a pretty part of the spectrum, but a tremendously bright green beam is sure appealing too.

I was going to buy the last 488 that Sta was selling on BS&T, but he decided to hang onto it. Gave me a lot of great info though.

I would love that $300 yellow on AliExpress, but I feel like it would make a better ‘second’ laser for me. It’s pretty expensive and I’d kind of like to own one with a little bit of power (and by “power” I mostly mean “brightness”, though I guess those are not inherently synonymous) before going in on one just for the color (although it is a gorgeous color).

Edit: I know, I’m all over the place trying to pick out a good first, nice laser. I just really want to get it right the first time. I wanna get something I’ll remain thrilled about and have no buyers remorse whatsoever.

 

[PineyTinecones]

Just watched XM360’s review on that CNI 589. Noice. I like his reviews.

Or you can watch the other “reviews” on YouTube of that same laser, the “JSHFEI” one on aliexpress. And by “reviews” I mean nothing but a couple of static images and some backing music (which I will begrudgingly admit is catchy). And they’ll also somehow give you as much as an 80% discount!

 

[Photon Master]

When you say “copper Sanwu”, are you referring to their “Red Guardian” model? I was just eyeballing the hell out of that one on their website.

It’s definitely a contender for my next purchase. I was just trying to decide if I wanted a 488/492, or a 1w green one (if I do go with the Cu Guardian, that is). That Cyan sure is a pretty part of the spectrum, but a tremendously bright green beam is sure appealing too.

I was going to buy the last 488 that Sta was selling on BS&T, but he decided to hang onto it. Gave me a lot of great info though.

I would love that $300 yellow on AliExpress, but I feel like it would make a better ‘second’ laser for me. It’s pretty expensive and I’d kind of like to own one with a little bit of power (and by “power” I mostly mean “brightness”, though I guess those are not inherently synonymous) before going in on one just for the color (although it is a gorgeous color).

Edit: I know, I’m all over the place trying to pick out a good first, nice laser. I just really want to get it right the first time. I wanna get something I’ll remain thrilled about and have no buyers remorse whatsoever.

Yep that’s it! I carry it with an 18350 and man, the beam is gorgeous. You can see the beam in the air from up close even during the day and you can easily see a bright dot on buildings far away that are in full sunlight.

the beam expander is awesome. The “spot” becomes more of a horizontal beam as distance increases but the beam expander keeps it super tight. (Not sure why they don’t called it a contractor).

for some reason I only see 1 watt green options on their page. I could’ve sworn mine was 1.2 but maybe it is just 1. I do know that different batteries can give you more power

 

[Photon Master]

I’d love to have this bad boy. Looks like you can vary the power of the different colors to produce yellow https://www.sanwulasers.com/product/rgblaser

 

[Sowee7]

Interesting. So 545’s are neodymium doped and that 940nm pumped 575 seems like an experimental multiple doped crystal. Quite possible a co doping with praseodymium and another rare element.

Sorry for necroposting, but I wanted to add something, the 545nm dpss lasence modules use Nd:GdCOB as the lasing crystal, also I think That their 532nm dpss modules (actually 530nm) use the same lasing crystal as the 545nm ones. The 555nm ones are also pumped with 808 btw

 

[CurtisOliver]

Sorry for necroposting, but I wanted to add something, the 545nm dpss lasence modules use Nd:GdCOB as the lasing crystal, also I think That their 532nm dpss modules (actually 530nm) use the same lasing crystal as the 545nm ones. The 555nm ones are also pumped with 808 btw

Cool, I think we've pretty much established now that the green modules are Nd, and the green/yellow and yellow modules are Pr due to the different pumping wavelength. Have you had it confirmed to you that it is Nd:GdCOB or is it just from logical reduction from research papers. It looks like I came to that conclusion too regarding the 545's.

541-580nm

Hobbyist Laser Encyclopedia

hobbyistlaserencyclopedia.weebly.com

 

[liveforphysics]

Is it possible to measure power output with the laser head in a temperature chamber. Let it normalize temperature with the chamber while the laser is off, then open the door and power it for a few seconds into a laser power meter.
Im not an expert in this, but I would think you can fingerprint the crystal type by quantifying the temperature vs conversion efficiency slope. I could see it not working out well if a laser has multiple series crystals where some do better warmer while the other likes it colder.

 

[hakzaw1]

Laser Sam sold me a nice yellow HeNe- much cheaper than any handheld. Guess you could rebuild one into a handheld.
See Sam's Laser Classifieds-- his prices are not low- but you may get him to give you a better deal if he needs the $$. We did a cash sale in hand at SELEM. Many haver gotten lasers from Sam but not many bought in person. btw he is more into non-handheld lasers.

 

[CurtisOliver]

You are lucky to have a yellow HeNe. I was tempted by one, but I have 589 and 593.5nm at 50mW+ now so don't really need it other than if I want the gas beam quality.

 

[hakzaw1]

Tru Dat
It will never be 'for sale' while I am alive.