question about blue lasers

[DarthPrower]

1. I've seen cheap lasers on ebay listed as being blue n stuff, but once i got it, it said it was a 405nm laser. which is basically purple so i want to know. does a 445 - 450 nm laser truly look blue to the human eye? i've seen them on videos, they kinda have a purplish color on them, but i'm not sure if the purple is still there on the eyes, or if it's just a camera thing.

2. i'm also looking for a laser that looks cyanish in color. like a bright blue. i wanna know where i can find the cheapest one?

3. which laser burns the best?

 

[diachi]

1. I've seen cheap lasers on ebay listed as being blue n stuff, but once i got it, it said it was a 405nm laser. which is basically purple so i want to know. does a 445 - 450 nm laser truly look blue to the human eye? i've seen them on videos, they kinda have a purplish color on them, but i'm not sure if the purple is still there on the eyes, or if it's just a camera thing.

2. i'm also looking for a laser that looks cyanish in color. like a bright blue. i wanna know where i can find the cheapest one?

3. which laser burns the best?

1. Yes, it looks blue to the eyes. It's quite a deep blue, bordering on violet.

2. How do you define cheap? $5? $20? $100?

3. That's a really broad question. High power 405nm lasers tend to burn really well (800-900mW BDR-209) but something at a different wavelength with more power could burn better. Lots of different variables.

Please do some reading through the forum, much of the information you seek has already been posted before.

 

[trussmonkey25]

I consider the 405 nm purple, the 445nm a deep indigo blue. The 445 looks purple because of the camera viewing it. This also holds true for infrared lasers, they show up as deep purple even though they appear faint red to the human eye.

 

[paul1598419]

Above 450nm there are no high power laser diodes, so your request for a light blue one, which to me is around 488nm, just won't happen. The 445nm and 450nm look pretty much the same as they are only 5nm apart. The camera might make it look violet, but to the eye they look blue. It is only when set side by side with a 480nm blue that the violet tinge comes out.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

When you say bright blue, do you mean more this color or this color?

If you mean the first, 473nm is probably the way to go. There's at least one member in the B/S/T section here with one for sale. If not, I recommend going with Jetlasers. These aren't cheap sadly... however you can also get a really high powered laser in that wavelength range, look into the NUBM07. some members here have overdriven these to the point they went well over what they were supposed to. I have an older version of the diode hitting 472nm @2W.

If you mean the second of those two, the 480-490nm range, then I recommend waiting a few weeks to a month or two. The price on those diodes are plummeting lately. This time two years ago it was $2k, this time last year it was $1k, now they can be had easily for $500, and there's a new company coming out with some for under $100 "soon but we don't know how soon". We've had some preliminary versions of the diode leak out, though they're all gone at the moment, and it'd be very difficult to find a member with one they are willing to let go.

 

[diachi]

Above 450nm there are no high power laser diodes, so your request for a light blue one, which to me is around 488nm, just won't happen.

Sure there are? The NUBM07 does several watts and can go higher than 470nm. That's a pretty darn light blue

:thinking:

Not to mention, OP never actually asked for high power cyan.

 

[paul1598419]

I guess I confused threads as I thought OP WAS looking for high power. My mistake. The 07E is about 470nm, but if you recall my post I meant 488nm. It won't get near that. But, since he isn't looking for high power, the whole argument is moot. Too bad he couldn't have been around when the Sharp diodes called "480nm" were around. They did get to 475nm and higher and sold for ~$40.00. I've got a 477nm one. I do have a 492nm that is going into a build tomorrow when I get the set screw for it.

 

[DarthPrower]

alright, well thanks everyone for the reply. sorry that i didn't respond sooner. i'm kinda new here.