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Soldering to case of 5.6mm laser diode?

Alaskan

Alaskan

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Does anyone know if a laser diode can take the heat of soldering its 5.6mm case to a copper disk? The disk won't be too big, .5 inch dia. at 18 gauge. I see maximum storage temperatures specified on some of these diodes which makes me wonder if they can take the heat of soldering them that way, if that temperature is the limit.
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I wouldn't chance it. The die is attached to
the case with a low melt alloy. I recommend
soldering wire(s) to the copper disc first and
then attaching the diode mechanically.
 
I agree it sounds high risk. I assume this is a case + or a case - diode and that's why you want it soldered to the disk? Maybe you can just glue it to the disc and solder the case pin to the disk.

Alan
 
OK, I wont try that. I can compression fit it but I thought soldering might be better :p

It's case negative/cathode, just wanted to solder it to give more stability, no real need to do that. I wanted to drill a hole in the copper disk only big enough for the leads to go through, the diode sitting on top, but I can do it another way, drill it just big enough for the cap of the diode to fit into and then compression fit the whole disk down on to the pill, sandwiching the diode between the disk and pill, the lip of the diode can preventing it from popping through the hole of the copper disk pushing it down on the surface of the pill which can have a hole for its leads to go through. I don't think the copper disk is deep enough for me to drill a hole to compress the diode into. However, if I were to try to do that, or find a thicker disk, how do you drill a flat hole? I am so newbie to such things, don't know a bit about milling metals.
 
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You need a special tool called a spot face,
but I don't think they are available in the
sizes we need. The machinists are very
secretive, but I think they just grind
their own tools and do them on the
lathe/milling machine. It requires a drill
press at the very least.
 
Look for counterbores like here McMaster-Carr Unfortunatly McMaster does not offer a right size. The closest are #5 and #6 but one is undersize, other oversize.
This one #5 from here KBC Tools & Machinery might do the job.
.22" *25.4 = 5.588 mm. Your machine and machining skills must be on top to have a nice fit. With a pure copper it is more challenging.
The pilot hole is a standard 1/8 drill or ~3.2 mm. It should be large enough for wires or a laser diode can.


Soldering a whole package will attract disasters - you probably will need a plumber's soldering torch to heat your plate and diode if using a standard solder.
:lasergun:
 
I have a 100W super sized soldering iron from the 1940's which is a match for any diode, I'm sure I can solder one down with it... won't work anymore, but it will be soldered. Thanks again guys.

Oh, lazeristasUVISIR, forgot to make a special mention of thanks for that info, I've already cut and paste it to a Word doc. for later when I order one. Don't know how well I will do, I better practice with a dummy slug and dead diode first. I have already purchased some diode removal tools from Flaminpyro and DTR.

Chris
 
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Alaskan said:
I have a 100W super sized soldering iron from the 1940's which isn't a match for any diode, I'm sure I can solder one down with it... won't work anymore, but it will be soldered. Thanks again guys.

Chris
Click to expand...

Lol got any pics of it?
 
Wow I have one just like this one in my storage container.

I think you will need more than 100W to do this job and I would not recommend soldering the laser diode either !

Jeff...


Alaskan said:
Looks like this one, it's buried in my stuff too deep after my move back to Alaska:

Soldering Iron Vintage "American Beauty" American Electrical Heater Co 100W USA | eBay

I have one that is more like a hot poker on a handle too you heat with flame first, not electric. That one is probably from the early tube radio days.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, solder the case pin first with the
diode hanging on another heatsink. The
whole copper disk will need to be at
soldering temperature. Use flux. Then
when everything has cooled, stick the diode
down with arctic silver or arctic alumina.
 
I just wanted to solder the diode case down on top of a flat disk with the wires going through a hole in the middle below it. The wires will be soldered last, my only concern is will the small 5.6mm single mode diode take the high temperature of soldering without destroying it, using the minimum heat required with relatively low temperature melting solder. So far, all of the feed back I am receiving is not to risk it, but I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has been able to do so with a diode like the PL520.

Edit:

I decided to do this differently and instead, drill a hole in the aluminum pill and tap it to accept the threads of the copper half of a DTR module. I believe I found the correct dimensions through a forum search from a post back in 2013 but now I can't find the thread :( However, I saved a print out of what I did find, can someone take a look at this and tell me if this is correct and what hole size I need to drill to be able to tap my pill for a M11 X 0.5 ? I know the hole must be slightly smaller, but not sure how much smaller.

EDIT: Nevermind on the above question, I completely screwed up my pill drilling the hole off center. I used a 10.5mm drill bit, per some advice I found on a web site.

IMG_1372_zpsxr8mpb4f.jpg
 
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