Pulsed mode ?

[DrSid]

Did some try to run this diode in pulse mode ? I'm interested in compressing as much output in as small time interval as possible, without burning the diode of course. I'm thinking about pistol host with this mode for target shooting. It would be great if it could burn holes (or at least marks) into paper target .. or light a match .. both at distances at least few yards.

 

[magonegro]

For what I know, pulses on a diode should obey the duty rule. Imagine a diode can do 1A CW, so may be it could do 2A for 1ms, then another ms off an so on... Perhaps you could go to 3A or 4A for 1ms without blowing the diode provided you keep under control the duty cycle. Anyway there is a current limit even for that microsecond. Besides this, a microsecond is very little time to burn a hole from yards long. Remember that this is not a gas tube, just a semiconductor so, specs are more tight, and can't emit high energy pulses as easy as a gas tube IMHO.

Anyway could be interesting how much current could do this diodes for example at a single 50ms pulse. But... who is going to risk a sweety diode? :thinking:

 

[billg519]

Let's say that we wish to get some pistol practice at 10 meters range. This is about 33 feet distance. My 445nm doesn't focus to a burning point at this distance. The divergence is too great. Perhaps a beam expander, but this is a large device on a pistol, perhaps simulating a huge silencer? Even with thermal fax paper as the target, it takes a short time to get a black spot from the heat of the beam. You would probably need a pulse in the tens to hundreds of watts for 100ms to make a caliber sized hole in a standard paper target at shooting range distances. The 445nm diode will not deliver this.

Can you use a special target rigged with arrays of light sensors to determine the scoring? This would work with a very low power laser, eliminating the need for everyone at the shooting range to wear laser supergoggles.

 

[DrSid]

Nah .. it's all just for fun .. and electronic target would be no fun. 10 meters may be way too much. 3 could be enough do it's not too simple. And I'm going to experiment with optics a lot (still my diodes are on the way at the moment).
I'm just curious if someone did run this (or other) diode in pulsed mode, what are the dangers and limits.

 

[Nanolaser]

This sounds interesting, would be nice to have so results from users willing to do this experiment.