So is 473nm DPSS just obsolete now?

[Razako]

As far as the hobbyist community is concerned of course. I'm sure they must still have some lab uses.

I recently picked up this 5W 465nm build from alien laser and my eyes honestly cannot tell the difference between this color and the color my blue RPL put out(before I re purposed the host) It's pure bright blue without a hint of purple. Looks indistinguishable from 473 except for being several hundred times more powerful.

Pros of 465nm:
Better stability.
Cheaper.
Much much much higher output.
No need for exotic crystals that go bad over time or anything like that.

Cons:
Bad beam specs.
Higher power units like this one heat up quickly and only have a duty cycle of around 30 seconds.

I suppose I would need to see what this wavelength looks like in the more conservative 1 watt range. I understand that the wavelength drifts upwards at higher output levels.


Blasting a tree 150-200 feet away with 5 watts of blue:drool:

 

[ultimatekaiser]

You choose the tool for the application they're both very important.

473 has lots of uses, including high speed printing, spectral references, holography and image reproduction, scanning and interferometry, bioflorescence, spectroscopy, forensics, and more....

457 and 488 are also often used as well for these applications. mostly florescence an imaging stuff though with these shorter wavelengths. They're mostly Argon Ion and Helium Cadmium (442nm) laser replacements.

And with -lots- of work, both can be stabilized to various degrees and cleaned up, its just often not practical with diodes; and too expensive as diodes are meant to be lower cost in the first place...so it defeats the purpose in many cases to make these big fancy electronics when you can generally make a DPSSL that's close in wavelength for similar cost and get the superior beam out of it. I digress though, as really it just depends on what your application is, and what its tolerance limits are.