Can anyone tell me what the smallest collimating lens in a threaded housing is? I need to make a 445nm 1W in a smaller package than the 12mm AIXIZ. I can machine the housing, but I need a lens to use in it.
There are, but sources are scarce.. A smaller lens will give you a thinner beam
but the divergence will suffer greatly...
You can use the aspheric lenses that jayrob and larrydfw sell, these make a smaller
beam, wont melt or deform, but you're still going to lose the better divergence
that the aixiz 3 element offer..
Id go with the aspheric if you plan on running the laser any higher than 200mW.
The only smaller lenses I have found are identical to aixiz acrylic and are plastic
as well. The blue beam will eat the plastic...
The reason I want a smaller diameter package is that I'd like to build a 20 diode 30W total output head. My plan is to machine the head from a lump of copper rod, press the diodes into the back, and screw the lenses into tapped holes at the front. I could use the AIXIZ glass lenses, but the head ends up being a lot bigger than I'd like.
Perhaps combine with fiber optic to save space, but that wont be easy,
and im not even sure where you could get the fibers..
You might as well start with the laser block array from a projector.. Its
all mounted and aligned with minimal loss compared to a DIY. The arrays are
already compact, you just need to figure out the optics to shape it.
If you are buying 20 LD's you might as well buy the whole projector...
There are 24 LD's in each, AND you get all the optics and goodies that
come with one.