Some question about Wavelength and Wicked Laser S3-Series...

[lax123]

Hi, i am laser newbie, i have some question about the wavelength...

(1)
i found a laser product from internet, here is the spec:
Name: S3 Series
FDA Accession No.: 0920211-000
Size: 228mm x 35.8mm
Weight: 378g
Wavelength: 445nm

I don't understand the "Wavelength"...the 445nm means the width of the laser light? long nm will result in wider laser light?

(2)
The product above (S3 Series) max power is 1000mW with the price of $299.95, can anybody intro similiar product (complete kit) but with higher output and lower price?

Thanks.

 

[LazyBeam]

wavelength is the color of the light... not the beam dimension. Most diode lasers will produce a beam 1mm-4mm in diameter and the dot shape will be square/rectangle. Some red diode lasers will have a round dot though. Often the brightness of a dot will obscure the shape and your eye will just see a bright "dot" regardless of the true dot shape.

Simplified explanation of wavelength (google Max Plank's theories for detailed info):
Photons (tiny discrete packets of light energy) travel in physical waves. Kind of like a sine wave hurtling through space/air. The physical spacing between the wave peaks is called the wavelength... said otherwise, the wavelength is basically the frequency of the photon waves. A nanometer (nm) is .000000001 meters. Similar to ears detecting sound waves, your eyes detect different frequencies of photons as different colors. Red is the lowest frequency your eyes can detect and violet is the highest: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Most light and colors you see are a mixture of numerous wavelengths just like mixing a few paint colors to achieve many unique colors. What makes lasers so special is that ALL the light produced is pure - it is of a single wavelength making the light easy to manipulate (making beams, shapes, cutting, etc...)

The 445nm diode produce what I would call "indigo". (Spyder 3 Arctic)
405nm diodes are violet. (bluray diode)
473nm modules are Blue. (dpss blue)
532nm modules are green. ((dpss green)
589/593nm modules are yellow. (dpss yellow)
650nm diodes are red. (diode)

The SPyder III Arctic will actually only put out around 800mW and you will wait 2-3 months to actually receive it in the mail. Post a thread in the BST stating what you want and someone here can build you a BETTER quality laser with MORE power for LESS money. In fact, if you do it yourself and you can build a reasonable quality handheld for ~$150.
DragonLasers sells the Spartan blue laser for $240... it doesn't look as cool but there ya go.

 

[Folder]

wavelength is the color of the light... not the beam dimension. Most diode lasers will produce a beam 1mm-4mm in diameter and the dot shape will be square/rectangle. Some red diode lasers will have a round dot though. Often the brightness of a dot will obscure the shape and your eye will just see a bright "dot" regardless of the true dot shape.

Simplified explanation of wavelength (google Max Plank's theories for detailed info):
Photons (tiny discrete packets of light energy) travel in physical waves. Kind of like a sine wave hurtling through space/air. The physical spacing between the wave peaks is called the wavelength... said otherwise, the wavelength is basically the frequency of the photon waves. A nanometer (nm) is .000000001 meters. Similar to ears detecting sound waves, your eyes detect different frequencies of photons as different colors. Red is the lowest frequency your eyes can detect and violet is the highest: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Most light and colors you see are a mixture of numerous wavelengths just like mixing a few paint colors to achieve many unique colors. What makes lasers so special is that ALL the light produced is pure - it is of a single wavelength making the light easy to manipulate (making beams, shapes, cutting, etc...)

The 445nm diode produce what I would call "indigo". (Spyder 3 Arctic)
405nm diodes are violet. (bluray diode)
473nm modules are Blue. (dpss blue)
532nm modules are green. ((dpss green)
589/593nm modules are yellow. (dpss yellow)
650nm diodes are red. (diode)

The SPyder III Arctic will actually only put out around 800mW and you will wait 2-3 months to actually receive it in the mail. Post a thread in the BST stating what you want and someone here can build you a BETTER quality laser with MORE power for LESS money. In fact, if you do it yourself and you can build a reasonable quality handheld for ~$150.
DragonLasers sells the Spartan blue laser for $240... it doesn't look as cool but there ya go.

Light isn't a particle and it isn't a wave. Different types of radiation do indeed have different wavelengths and it isn't just how fast it oscillates it's the length of the 'wave'. Radiowaves have wavelengths measured in metres. The higher the wavelength, the lower the frequency.

 

[lax123]

wavelength is the color of the light... not the beam dimension. Most diode lasers will produce a beam 1mm-4mm in diameter and the dot shape will be square/rectangle. Some red diode lasers will have a round dot though. Often the brightness of a dot will obscure the shape and your eye will just see a bright "dot" regardless of the true dot shape.

Simplified explanation of wavelength (google Max Plank's theories for detailed info):
Photons (tiny discrete packets of light energy) travel in physical waves. Kind of like a sine wave hurtling through space/air. The physical spacing between the wave peaks is called the wavelength... said otherwise, the wavelength is basically the frequency of the photon waves. A nanometer (nm) is .000000001 meters. Similar to ears detecting sound waves, your eyes detect different frequencies of photons as different colors. Red is the lowest frequency your eyes can detect and violet is the highest: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Most light and colors you see are a mixture of numerous wavelengths just like mixing a few paint colors to achieve many unique colors. What makes lasers so special is that ALL the light produced is pure - it is of a single wavelength making the light easy to manipulate (making beams, shapes, cutting, etc...)

The 445nm diode produce what I would call "indigo". (Spyder 3 Arctic)
405nm diodes are violet. (bluray diode)
473nm modules are Blue. (dpss blue)
532nm modules are green. ((dpss green)
589/593nm modules are yellow. (dpss yellow)
650nm diodes are red. (diode)

The SPyder III Arctic will actually only put out around 800mW and you will wait 2-3 months to actually receive it in the mail. Post a thread in the BST stating what you want and someone here can build you a BETTER quality laser with MORE power for LESS money. In fact, if you do it yourself and you can build a reasonable quality handheld for ~$150.
DragonLasers sells the Spartan blue laser for $240... it doesn't look as cool but there ya go.

Light isn't a particle and it isn't a wave. Different types of radiation do indeed have different wavelengths and it isn't just how fast it oscillates it's the length of the 'wave'. Radiowaves have wavelengths measured in metres. The higher the wavelength, the lower the frequency.

Thanks for the info! :yh:

DragonLasers seem like a good buy, but i would like to know is anyone selling laser with > 1000mW? :beer:

 

[slammer99uk]

A self admitted noob wanting to carry around more than a watt of laser power? Don't you think you should start off with something less dangerous?

Buy a significantly cheaper (and less dangerous) 532nm green, learn to handle it safely and responsibly before buying something more powerfull

 

[LazyBeam]

Light isn't a particle and it isn't a wave. Different types of radiation do indeed have different wavelengths and it isn't just how fast it oscillates it's the length of the 'wave'. Radiowaves have wavelengths measured in metres. The higher the wavelength, the lower the frequency.

Of course... but I didn't feel the necessity of confusing a new guy (who didn't even know about wavelength) with the duality of light.

And it IS also the speed of oscillation. Oscillation speed (frequency) is proportionally related to the wavelength. You can uniquely specify light by frequency or by wavelengh given consistent mediums. EM radiation traveling in a vacuum always has speed C... therefore the oscillation frequency produces a discreet wavelength. It's just more common to specify light by wavelength than frequency in a vacuum (or some other medium).

 

[Folder]

Of course... but I didn't feel the necessity of confusing a new guy (who didn't even know about wavelength) with the duality of light.

And it IS also the speed of oscillation. Oscillation speed (frequency) is proportionally related to the wavelength. You can uniquely specify light by frequency or by wavelengh given consistent mediums. EM radiation traveling in a vacuum always has speed C... therefore the oscillation frequency produces a discreet wavelength. It's just more common to specify light by wavelength than frequency in a vacuum (or some other medium).

Yes, good point.