PHR-803T batch testing.. Windowless 803Ts?

[IgorT]

I hope this question wasn't asked already, because i was horribly busy, and i did not have time to browse the forum at all.

But did anyone ever find a windowless PHR-803T diode?


I was just finishing the testing of the last few of a larger batch of diodes (23). I was testing all of them at the same current of 109mA, to see which ones are powerful enough to be used in my lasers.

I got widely varying results. I will post them later, when i have more time. The differences are quite large!


Anyway, i got these diodes from various sources. Six of them were from PSX-BOY. After i tested twenty, i decided to test the last three from PSX-BOY, because i had to find at least one more of the more powerful ones.


And when i removed the heatsink, i looked at the diode window, to see if it's clean like i always do. But i could not see it. I kept changing the angle of the light, but it wasn't there. I looked in, in case it broke off, nothing. I thought i could not find the right angle, so i picked up another one, and i saw the window immediately. Then i had a thought. Maybe the most powerful ones i found were windowless? I picked up the highest power diode i found during testing, but it did have a window.

So i looked at the last two from PSX-BOY and the second one also didn't have a window! The last diode did, like all the rest.


I need to check all the others to see if i missed one. But i have at least two windowless PHR-803T diodes, without having to de-can them..

I have not yet measured the last three, but i'm hoping they will be among the more powerful ones...  :




About the powers... I found almost every number between 71 and 95mW so far. All at the same current! But only two were very low. Most of them were between 80-90mW..
Since the current i used during this test was just at the upper edge of the "knee" in Lava's graph, i think the difference between them is in where this knee is. At higher currents, the powers might actually get closer together. I will test that later, to see what happens.

I will also test the lowest and the highest powered one at several different currents, to see if there are differences in behavior. I wonder how high they can go.


But obviously, you can not just tell from the graph, what power a blu ray laser has. 90mA is supposed to do 80mW. One of my diodes only does 71 at 109mA! At 90mA, the power would be quite low.


I can post a list of all powers tomorrow, if anyone is interested.

 

[daguin]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

I hope this question wasn't asked already, because i was horribly busy, and i did not have time to browse the forum at all.

But did anyone ever find a windowless PHR-803T diode?

Quality control just isn't what it used to be in China

Peace,
dave

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

Haha, yeah....

I'll test them now, and report what i find...

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

Igor --

Make sure the window isn't just loose in there -- That cost me my first 6X....

Mike

 

[wicked1]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

I recently killed one w/ a loose window.
BUT b4 I killed it, for many inspections, I thought the window was missing. when the window was loose it often sat at an angle. I couldn't for the life of me catch a reflection off the angled window.

I finally noticed the window, and killed the diode while trying to remove it

 

[Glaserfan]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

My DT0811 pointer has a "de-canned" diode in it. If you have a vise, and a helping hand with a magnifier on it, chuck it up in the vice and use a tiny cutting tool(I have tiny snippers), and cut at least the front of the can open, then let the window fall out. Be VERY carful as there is only about 1mm between the end of the can and the die.

 

[laserrod]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

Data:
I goofed and fractured the glass during the diodedectomy heatsink removal process with dykes(diagonal cutter) and then carfully removed the can and microscoplicly visually inspected the laser die and flying gold leads(power jumpers) & all looked fine.
But I lost the diode to the blue deathglow.
Maybe I bumped into the die and missalined it :'(

17 bucks lost, Oh well ;D


IgorT looking forward to your batch testing data

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

Oh, sorry, i was so busy, that i completelly forgot about this..

So.. I tested 23 PHR diodes..
I modified an AixiZ module, so that i could put them in and take them out again - i grinded it out just a little bit.
Then i used my buck/boost driver at 114mA, but to make the test fast and safe, i put a 1K resistor across the output caps - so it would discharge them while i'm switching diodes, and none would get killed.

So the actual current was lower than 114mA - 109mA (5.5mA lost in the resistor discharging the caps)..

Here are the powers i got.. Next to them the final power at 125mA for those i turned into lasers or modules so far:

@109mA  @125mA (unless mentioned otherwise)
- 76mW - 132mW (at 179mA first test module) - 139mW (at 191mA - now dead after being left on for an hour at 191mA)
- 83mW
- 96mW - 138mW (at 143mA - testing first higher current setting) - 166mW (at 160mA, testing second higher setting) Nice power, more efficient, than expected!
- 85mW
- 101mW - 172mW (at 169mA).. Worked for two weeks, dropped a few mW on one day and died next day, when i made it cold during testing and output was the highest
- 102mW - 190mW (at 178mA fourth test module) now 183mW (at 169mA - this diode is the real freak! Died at 169mA) - at 178mA, this poor diode was doing 228mW before optics!  
- 92mW - 110mW
- 95mW - 111mW
- 93mW - 107mW
- 91mW - 119mW (at 128mA)
- 99mW - 121mW (later misteriously changing into 112mW - i think it has something to do with ambient temperature, or switching lens maybe)
- 92mW - 107mW
- 82mW - 102mW (second test module - will be set to a high current, and left on)
- 88mW
- 76mW - (third test module, not testing yet)
- 96mW - 111mW
- 94mW - 111mW
- 105mW - 128mW (later 145mW at 143mA, but now 159mW at 172mA, and today suddenly 167mW! UPDATE: Now 186mW at 187mA! Died at 187mA)
- 98mW - 114mW
- 95mW - 111mW
- 89mW
- 91mW - 108mW
- 93mW - 114mW (another surprising result.. maybe the 109mA measurement was somewhere inside the "knee")


Six more diodes received and tested:

@109mA  @125mA
- 93mW - 114mW (interesting..)
- 84mW
- 91mW
- 94mW - 114.5mW (114-115mW)
- 81mW
- 69mW o the lowest before was 76mW.. i repeated this test 4 times to make sure, and it's correct)


EDIT: Corrected all the numbers with results from another meter, that should be more precise..


I built more modules, but i have not tested them yet, but i will add more 125mA current powers to the numbers here, when i finish testing. I'll keep updating the numbers, untill the list is full.

I'll use the three weaker ones and the most powerful one, to see what they can take.. I'll run the three at 170mA, 180mA and 190mA.. If they don't want to die, i'll go to 200mA. I might lose some, but it would help learn what is safe for others. Also, if the power stops climbing at a certain point.. It's possible, that the weaker ones would get stronger at a higher current. Then i'll compare the measured powers to the most powerful one. It's even possible the weaker ones would surpass it. I think the difference is in the position of the knee in P/I relationship.

Some that were further appart at the start, came closer together. Others went further apart or even in different directions.
I also kinda lost some power in two cases. So i'll measure the three immediatelly at power up, and at 30 minutes, and then every day.

But i have not lost a diode yet! (EDIT: Well, i did, but on purpose, while experimenting :) With PS3 diodes, i once lost three out of five!  But i have broken a leg off one PHR.. It was a good one. Hope it doesn't happen again....


Anyway, as you can see from the measurements, these are not very consistent.. It's nowhere near 80mW at 90mA. Some don't do much over 70mW at 109mA! Maybe these inconsistencies are what caused them to become reader diodes....

Lucky for us, that is..



EDIT: I think i made a mistake with the 98mW diode.. When i closed the second jumper, to raise the current to 160mA, i got a slightly higher reading, so i thought i raised the current, but in fact, when i removed that resistor, it was still 136mW. I wanted to up it to 172mW, and i did so succesfully, but now i have no 160mA reading.. It's doing just fine at 172mA tho.. Almost 150mW after a plastic lens!

This is a one in twenty (at least) diode, and others don't come close to it's efficiency - it puts out more power, and produces less heat, than others at the same current... Next i need to push one of the two 71mW diodes to the same current. Should be interesting..

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

As i mentioned in the powers listed up there, i made an 113mW laser, at the same current, where others were doing 104mW on average. Next day, when i was cleaning the lasers, and packaging them, i measured them all again, and i couldn't find the 113mW anymore - and i wiped the numbers off during cleaning. Another, that did 107mW still did the same.

I think the 113mW changed into 105mW or something. I did not understand, how that could have happened. So then i had to make another >110, and i got 111mW.. But when i switched the lens for one with a focusing ring on it, the laser was suddenly 108mW. It was the same type of clear plastic lens. Obviously, the powers are different even between the same lenses.

Then i raised the current in my test laser to 172.5mA, and it did almost 150mW, but was between 146 and 149mW.
Today i measured it again, and the same laser at the same current is now 154-157mW!


I think ambient temperatures may have something to do with it. The diodes are very inconsistent as it is. But it would seem, some have a lower temperature stability, than others.

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

I just pushed my freak PHR diode to 189.5mA!

It's now doing 174mW after a plastic lens! A 405nm lens would bring it to over 200mW! Maybe even over 210mW!
With heat, the power drops to 170mW after a long time on.. The heatsink does a great job.

This is so cool! I can't believe what powers we are reaching with these..

 

[Jimmymcjimthejim]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

I just pushed my freak PHR diode to 189.5mA!

It's now doing 174mW after a plastic lens! A 405nm lens would bring it to over 200mW! Maybe even over 210mW!

Wow... And a while back we thought that 100mW was tops for these...

 

[daguin]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

[quote author=IgorT link=1214268330/0#9 date=1214684979]I just pushed my freak PHR diode to 189.5mA!

It's now doing 174mW after a plastic lens! A 405nm lens would bring it to over 200mW! Maybe even over 210mW!

Wow... And a while back we thought that 100mW was tops for these...[/quote]


My work here is done.

Peace,
dave

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

My work here is done.

Peace,
dave

Haha!

Thank you Dave!


The next one will be a bit higher, but with a better heatsink and more massive host. Same size tho.


It looks SO AMAZING outside at night!

 

[IgorT]

Re: Windowless PHR-803T diodes?

Ok..

So... 190mA is too much for these diodes..
It just died. It worked for a while without a problem. But i just turned it on, and it flashed and turned off. I thought my battery shut down, but it didn't..

The most efficient diode i found is dead. Died at 187mA.


I need to test everything to see if it could have been something else, but i think it was just too much for it.

 

[IgorT]

So, now that my most efficient diode is dead, i hammered it out of the module, and decided to go with a slightly lower current..

For this test i selected one of the weakest diodes i could find. This one did only 71mW at the 109mA test..
I knew it wouldn't be close to the previous one, but at 179mA it's doing only 124mW..

The freak diode did 120mW at only 125mA! And now it's dead.. Should have stuck to 172mA, or maybe 179mA, like with this one now..


The powers are REALLY inconsistent. And it becomes more noticable at higher currents.

I want >150mW back! But i will need to make another laser for that.

 

[IgorT]

Ok, i just made another laser from a diode, that did 95mW during the 109mA test (the freak did 98)..

I used a slightly lower current, in the hope, that it survives, and keeps on going.. I set it to 178mA, so i expected 160mW at most, especially since it tested lower before...

But this one is now doing 178mW! The freak did 175mW at 187mA! This diode is the real freak!


I just hope it survives!