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Need help finding a high quality laser

Garoq

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Aug 27, 2010
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@Sowee7 The goal of laser safety eyewear is not to completely block all light of the design wavelength(s). It is to block enough of the light that the laser is not hazardous to the wearer's vision. The optical density you need for a laser depends on the power of the laser.
The true test of laser safety eyewear is to measure the power of your laser before and after passing through the lens, then determine what proportion of the light is transmitted.

Just because some of the laser light is visible, does not mean the glasses are ineffective. The human eye is remarkably sensitive, especially to green light, as Garoq points out, so it is not unreasonable that you can detect the very low light level that passes through the glasses.

Optical density (OD) tells you what proportion of the light will be blocked. I'd suggest doing a bit of reading on the subject for a clear picture of how OD is measured and what it means for our purposes with laser safety.
Some will argue that a spectrophotometer is the only way to accurately measure the performance of laser safety goggles. While this may be true in principle, the equipment needs to be calibrated correctly and users must be properly trained and experienced in their operation. Very few of us hobbyists possess or use these devices. However, many of us have LPMs, and they can provide a relatively crude but effective means of determining the most important aspect of laser safety goggle effectiveness...their ability to protect the wearer from hazardous amounts of laser light (i.e., over 5mW).
 









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