Oldschooler lost amongst the flood of new stuff.

[blasterman]

I think the first thing I'd ask somebody getting back into lasers after being absent for a few years is why 445-450? The 462's and especially the 520's require significantly less energy to produce the same brightness levels. So unless you need ~6 watts of output to set things on fire, or have some remote phosphor technology that needs lots of far blue energy why stick with 445-450nm?

 

[Gabe]

why stick with 445-450nm?

Generally cheaper per mW.

 

[Kenom]

Eh, this guy wants the most burning power possible in a visible laser. I have a 20W IR fiber coupled diode, but that's not what he wants.

 

[styropyro]

Wow...good to see you back Kenom!! So much has changed since when you were a regular, now we have so many laser diodes available to us that it's hard to keep track of them all. We have several blues of different wavelengths and powers, from 50mW to >5W. The green diodes are also pretty awesome, with the strongest ones over 1W. There are also monster reds and violets out there too...so try not to get overwhelmed.

 

[Davidx]

And yellow.

 

[bobhaha]

Wow...good to see you back Kenom!! So much has changed since when you were a regular, now we have so many laser diodes available to us that it's hard to keep track of them all. We have several blues of different wavelengths and powers, from 50mW to >5W. The green diodes are also pretty awesome, with the strongest ones over 1W. There are also monster reds and violets out there too...so try not to get overwhelmed.

Monster reds? Please explain, I've been away for a while too.

 

[Gabe]

Monster reds? Please explain, I've been away for a while too.

There have been some several watt 635s and 650s, in both C-mounts and plain diodes.

 

[VisibleGreen]

There have been some several watt 635s and 650s, in both C-mounts and plain diodes.

I have one of those 5w 650nm Cmounts I picked up from cdbeam. Gotta do something with it :undecided:

 

[bobhaha]

High power C-mount reds have always been a thing. So nothing in 3.8, 5 or 9 mm package pumping 2W+?

 

[styropyro]

The 5W c-mount reds that became available around here were nice in the fact that they were FAC corrected and under $400...so they are more special than your run of the mill red c-mounts that have been available. I have one running at 4A that is pretty awesome!! There are also multimode 638nm diodes that can hit over 1W, and there is also a weird 2.5W 635nm diode that outputs three beams that is available.

 

[Gabe]

and there is also a weird 2.5W 635nm diode that outputs three beams that is available.

Do they really all output three beams? I thought they all spit out two beams and yours was a fluke, or is that not the case?

 

[bobhaha]

The 5W c-mount reds that became available around here were nice in the fact that they were FAC corrected and under $400...so they are more special than your run of the mill red c-mounts that have been available. I have one running at 4A that is pretty awesome!! There are also multimode 638nm diodes that can hit over 1W, and there is also a weird 2.5W 635nm diode that outputs three beams that is available.

Very cool, thanks.

 

[styropyro]

Do they really all output three beams? I thought they all spit out two beams and yours was a fluke, or is that not the case?

I honestly couldn't tell you...I do think there were at least some others that did output three beams but I could be wrong. My diode has other weird issues though too...

 

[Gabe]

Yeah that's really strange. Seems like the consensus in threads like the "Twin Buster" build is that there are two dies...not entirely sure what that means for output. since these are multimode... This could be its transverse operating mode.., no? And yours was maybe a fluke which preferred a different one?
Looking at the different modes, it looks like that 2.5W red runs in rectangular transverse modes, the preferred (dual beam) looking like TEM10, and the one yours runs in looking like TEM20... huh
EDIT:

 

[Akiyama]

I had a similar question, so I won't be of much help. However, nice keyboard.

About the "monster reds"... what's the cheapest monster red with razor sharp focus? Any pre-assembled Chinese hold-to-fire lasers available using these new diodes?