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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

N465 Lab - Cyl Lens Correction, Switchable Output, Temp Display

Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
244
Points
43
Just finished this today after getting the diode at least 2 months ago, then waiting for optics for several weeks to be shipped from Poland then revising the design several times as soon as I would sit down to build it.

Lately I've been used to the divergence of the M462 and NDB7675 and though I find the beam quality to be nice through a G7 with those diodes, I still wasn't fully happy with the divergence with either one, coming from a history of argon, small and large frame HeNe and late 90's DPSS prior to wandering in to the consuming hobby of laser building with single mode reds ripped out of DVD-RW drives. Given that I had never seen an '07E or 44 in person, I knew from pictures that I was probably going to want correction for the N465 (same divergence as 07E from what I gather) but after firing it up with test driver I was surprised at how pronounced the line is that these high output diodes throw. I will say that other than the fast axis divergence, the beam quality of the N465 is superb through a G7 lens... clean, artifact free and super sharp.

After spending too much time looking in to corrective optics, I settled on OPT's 6X cylindrical pair.. the deep footprint looked much more stable and maneuverable than the other 6X pairs I looked at, the others having a profile akin to that of a deck of cards standing on end. No thanks. Also the OPT pair has a transmittance of something over 99.5%.. that's crazy talk. They even offer the pair with a brass mount, making the vast majority of the alignment struggle vanish. Which I accidentally didn't order. Home Depot (my parts bins) to the rescue! Trimming down, evening out and squaring perfectly those brass pillars that hold the lenses was truly a bitchasaurus to accomplish with only hand tools. And sanding. And sanding. ... ..

Like the other units I've made prior, I wanted selectable output. Rather than using a double throw switch to change current set resistors (too easy and reliable!), I built a circuit using relays that allows for a "button press" type of action, controlled by a momentary toggle. Tap up for high power, down for low. By using relays the unit always starts up in low power, this being an attempt to incorporate some level of safety in to this thing.. it's also satisfying to click the toggle, the parallel relays clank in unison with an accompanying tactile pulse through the chassis as it delivers a roughly ~100X increase in power.

Low power - 440mA (40-ish mW)
High power - 3400mA (around 4 watts)

Bottom switch - power
Middle switch - standby
Top switch - toggle output

Corrected through the cylinders and focused to infinity this thing burns black spots in the white paint on my wall in less than 15 seconds after reflecting off of a mirror on the other end of the room. After testing it downstairs across the length of the house it's still burning the wall over 45 feet away. Yikes. After traveling that distance it's honestly difficult to tell if the spot is any larger than when it left the aperature. It must be. At least a hair. Awesome beam quality through those OPT cylinders.


Since there's not a lot of info on this diode, if you have any specific measurements you would like to know or would like pictures of anything particular (relating to the laser!) I'll be happy to accommodate... as far as I know, it is a canned NUBM07E, though I'm interested as to whether or not the two have any differences aside from the can.

Looking forward to the new year.. 2017 seemed a little toxic. ;)
 

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Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
244
Points
43
More construction pics and a shot of what it's doing to my wall... the paint is actually clean and white, the lighting makes it look tinted and the burn damage left some smoke stains on it as well.
 

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Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
244
Points
43
More pics.. I polished all of the interfacing surfaces to help with thermal conduction to the chassis and used a thermal compound made of crushed diamond.. perhaps more important than the performance of the compound was the novelty of smearing a paste of crushed diamond for cooling a laser. Burned a spot to determine where to drill the hole for exit aperture.
 

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Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
244
Points
43
Pictures showing the finished unit, high and low outputs across the messy tool area, the spot on the wall after about 45 feet. The actual dot is about half of the size that the picture suggests, the camera sensor was saturated.
 

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BobMc

0
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Messages
3,685
Points
113
That's a real nice build thread. Thanks for such a great write, up not to mention the pictures. It's was a great read. Such a :gj: on the build. Thanks for sharing your work. :drool: well well done.

I've got one build with the n465, I agree it does throw a really nice beam.
 
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
2,560
Points
113
Just finished this today after getting the diode at least 2 months ago, then waiting for optics for several weeks to be shipped from Poland then revising the design several times as soon as I would sit down to build it.

Lately I've been used to the divergence of the M462 and NDB7675 and though I find the beam quality to be nice through a G7 with those diodes, I still wasn't fully happy with the divergence with either one, coming from a history of argon, small and large frame HeNe and late 90's DPSS prior to wandering in to the consuming hobby of laser building with single mode reds ripped out of DVD-RW drives. Given that I had never seen an '07E or 44 in person, I knew from pictures that I was probably going to want correction for the N465 (same divergence as 07E from what I gather) but after firing it up with test driver I was surprised at how pronounced the line is that these high output diodes throw. I will say that other than the fast axis divergence, the beam quality of the N465 is superb through a G7 lens... clean, artifact free and super sharp.

After spending too much time looking in to corrective optics, I settled on OPT's 6X cylindrical pair.. the deep footprint looked much more stable and maneuverable than the other 6X pairs I looked at, the others having a profile akin to that of a deck of cards standing on end. No thanks. Also the OPT pair has a transmittance of something over 99.5%.. that's crazy talk. They even offer the pair with a brass mount, making the vast majority of the alignment struggle vanish. Which I accidentally didn't order. Home Depot (my parts bins) to the rescue! Trimming down, evening out and squaring perfectly those brass pillars that hold the lenses was truly a bitchasaurus to accomplish with only hand tools. And sanding. And sanding. ... ..

Like the other units I've made prior, I wanted selectable output. Rather than using a double throw switch to change current set resistors (too easy and reliable!), I built a circuit using relays that allows for a "button press" type of action, controlled by a momentary toggle. Tap up for high power, down for low. By using relays the unit always starts up in low power, this being an attempt to incorporate some level of safety in to this thing.. it's also satisfying to clicking the toggle, the parallel relays clank in unison with an accompanying tactile pulse through the chassis as it delivers a roughly ~100X increase in power.

Low power - 440mA (40-ish mW)
High power - 3400mA (around 4 watts)

Bottom switch - power
Middle switch - standby
Top switch - toggle output

Corrected through the cylinders and focused to infinity this thing burns black spots in the white paint on my wall in less than 15 seconds after reflecting off of a mirror on the other end of the room. After testing it downstairs across the length of the house it's still burning the wall over 45 feet away. Yikes. After traveling that distance it's honestly difficult to tell if the spot is any larger than when it left the aperature. It must be. At least a hair. Awesome beam quality through those OPT cylinders.


Since there's not a lot of info on this diode, if you have any specific measurements you would like to know or would like pictures of anything particular (relating to the laser!) I'll be happy to accommodate... as far as I know, it is a canned NUBM07E, though I'm interested as to whether or not the two have any differences aside from the can.

Looking forward to the new year.. 2017 seemed a little toxic. ;)

I've one question and a few comments. Why didn't you use a company such as Edmund Optics or Thor Labs? Both are much closer and you can communicate in real time.

All this talk about beam correction and not one photo of the end result or before correction.
 
Joined
Jun 20, 2015
Messages
244
Points
43
I've one question and a few comments. Why didn't you use a company such as Edmund Optics or Thor Labs? Both are much closer and you can communicate in real time.

All this talk about beam correction and not one photo of the end result or before correction.

I had heard good things about the OPT lenses and as I mentioned, the profile of the lenses makes them much easier to manage than most of the cyl pairs I have seen. With the recommendations I read for them I was willing to wait to get them.

I did post a picture of the beam and spot after correction, the last picture I posted is the spot at about 50 feet.. but you're right that I did not show a comparison. Perhaps you only saw the first group of 8 pictures? I'll be happy to put up more of the corrected beam/spot with some measurements. Uncorrected, it's the same as a NUBM07E, one single clean stripe that is about an inch wide by 2 or 3mm at 25 feet.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
That was quite a project you decided to undertake, Aaron. The layout looks good and the cosmetics are wonderful. I have a pair of those OPT 6X lenses. Haven't gotten around to using them yet. Have the NUBM44 diode and driver, host, etc. Just need to finish other projects before I get around to that one. + rep.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2015
Messages
9,799
Points
113
Very nice, your beam looks good. Sharp build too. :gj:

I love correcting the nubm44 with a 6X pair then using a Sanwu 3X beam expander, but it has to be a Sanwu G2 in order to work with the Sanwu 3X BE, funny how a small change makes a big difference down train.

p.s. The filter in front of your fan is a very good idea, dust and even smoke can dirty lenses given time.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
17,252
Points
113
I don't know how air tight your enclosure is, but a piece of tape across the aperture would also help to keep dust out. I use it on all my lab lasers and wrap my handhelds air tight, or cap the lens.
 




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