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FrozenGate by Avery

The TG430 - 55mW 430nm laser diode

ZRaffleticket

ZRaffleticket

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Hello once again! I got myself something really unique to show off this time around.

Presenting...


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Or Top-GaN 430nm blue laser diode.

I have a bunch of places I asked to be put on lists for unusual diodes, and this is no different. This time it was through RMPC lasers. Expect $$$ prices. Since they don't advertise exact prices on their site I won't be writing the exact amount. Less than a grand, but much more than anything on DTR's site.

https://www.rpmclasers.com/product/tg430-430nm-blue-laser-diode/

I'll start off with the host - this is a brass / copper host by Rich. I thought having an indigo color would be a good contrast with the color of the diode. Little did I realize, the copper sink is proving very useful as well...







So 430nm... what does it look like? I was expecting some happy medium between the 445's and 405's. To my surprise, if I didn't have Paul measure it beforehand I would assume it was a ripoff for a low wavelength 445. It is still very much so blue.

On my monitors, this color appears pretty similar to what I have up at the top. The spot is undeniably blue. However... the splash/diffuse light in low quantities is most certainly violet. It's a difficult color to pick up on camera, bearing that in mind I'll share what I can. This first image is the most accurate representation I currently have.





Camera picks it up much more purple than it is to me. However it does show a decent comparison for the magnitude of visual difference between 405nm, 430nm and 450nm

405-430-450


450-430


450nm doesn't have a hint of violet in it compared to 430nm, where the 430nm looks like a very unrefined blue... Again, concentrated it's blue and diffuse it's violet. (which would probably make it very bad for color mixing.)



Another thing I noticed is the box reflection. I have not seen a box reflection worse than this one's.



Does that not show how bad it really is? How about compared to an overdriven blue diode (the 472)



(ow)


It's bad. Partially because the die is humongous.




...

All in all, would I recommend getting one of these? Nope! The color isn't really all that different from 445 in my opinion. Unless you're a real big wavelength collector and have a ton of money to drop on something a little different, save your money for something else. It's neat to have, but not different enough to warrant the price tag.

I think maybe 415-425 may be a better range for an indigo color. I'll be waiting to find one of those... If anyone has a high wavelength (415nm+) BDR-209, please contact me :)



And finally, I'll be adding more images to the album here. I know I don't have a ton here (and none are really all that good). I'll be making changes here as well if I get any really nice pics along the line.

:thanks: for the read!
 
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Thanks for the photos and the review, Z, I think I'll take your advice and wait, especially for those prices!

You'll probably be the only member here to own one of these for a while! :yh:
 
Thanks for the review, although I’m not interested in getting one.
 
Oh, good. I'm glad you got it and put it in a host. Thanks for the review, Zach. :yh:
 
oh a rare diode but it doens't make so much difference as you said.i think 420nm would be the best as it will be still purple but with better visibility than 405's.
my bdr 209 hits around 412nm(or somewhere close to that) and it has a tiny difference with a blue hint compared to my 405nm s06j,i can only notice it on dark room but it has way more visible beam,i guess the extra 200mw+ extra nm combo makes that.
 
Pretty cool, you are well on the way to filling your wavelength collection!

What's the brightness/beam visibility like?
 
Thanks guys!

kecked said:
I picked up a cheap 8.00 set of red green and blue which was really 405pens. The blue is actually 414nm so you can get one of those off amazon for cheap. It shifted up as it got warm so you might grab it and over drive it.

https://www.amazon.com/pieces-Laser...&qid=1531657778&sr=8-5&keywords=laser+pointer
Click to expand...

Actually I have already tried that on a few sets on ebay hoping for a 405 that looks bluer than my sanwu 900mW one. So far, of 5 sets everything was a bit deeper purple than the sanwu to varying degrees. The sanwu is unmeasured so I'm not 100% sure where it sits. I'll give those ones a shot, can't hurt. Thanks!

Atomicrox said:
Pretty cool, you are well on the way to filling your wavelength collection!

What's the brightness/beam visibility like?
Click to expand...

About as bright as my ~10mW 490nm pen. It checks with the brightness comparison tool pretty well actually. The beam is surprisingly visible too. The second beam shot in the first post was unaided in trying to pick it up. No smoke, default camera settings picked it up just fine, and so did my eyes. (the first one has better color accuracy but used some smoke) Pretty cool actually, since the beam is more purple than the spot. Terribly difficult to show that difference on camera though.
 
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ZRaffleticket said:
Actually I have already tried that on a few sets on ebay hoping for a 405 that looks bluer than my sanwu 900mW one. So far, of 5 sets everything was a bit deeper purple than the sanwu to varying degrees. The sanwu is unmeasured so I'm not 100% sure where it sits. I'll give those ones a shot, can't hurt. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Maybe your sanwu is already ~415nm. More likely for a diode that is driven hard to be redshifted.

About as bright as my ~10mW 490nm pen. It checks with the brightness comparison tool pretty well actually. The beam is surprisingly visible too. The second beam shot in the first post was unaided in trying to pick it up. No smoke, default camera settings picked it up just fine, and so did my eyes. (the first one has better color accuracy but used some smoke) Pretty cool actually, since the beam is more purple than the spot. Terribly difficult to show that difference on camera though.
Click to expand...

I notice that effect with my low 445nm as well. The dot is blue but the reflection and beam are purplish.
 
Thanks for the nice review Z.
It is a pitty that the color is not as different as you expected it to be. But you still have one of a kind here in the forum. Keep looking for the 420nm version. As fat as I know these go for the same price as the 430nm.

Singlemode
 
Yes, most 405's are not 405nm at all. I have had to account for this myself.
BDR-209's sit above 408nm and have been seen up to 416nm.
Singlemode might be able to offer advice on these hitting higher wavelengths.
Cheap SLD3232VF diodes can be had at <408nm although I don't know if anyone has ever spectro'd one?
 
CurtisOliver said:
Yes, most 405's are not 405nm at all. I have had to account for this myself.
BDR-209's sit above 408nm and have been seen up to 416nm.
Singlemode might be able to offer advice on these hitting higher wavelengths.
Cheap SLD3232VF diodes can be had at <408nm although I don't know if anyone has ever spectro'd one?
Click to expand...

Most of the Singlemode 405nm diodes run a little higher. Thorlabs offers some fibre coupled versions with binned wavelengths. One can use this as an estimate of the wl distribution to see what's possible. The high wl edge for these is 408nm-410nm for the rated op. conditions.

These GaN diodes shift with current density and temperature. 20°C will shift the wl by 1nm and 200mA will also shift the wl by 1nm (This is only valid for the single mode diodes, the multimode versions have a higher active area so the current density is smaller per mA). Usually an increase in current causes the temperature to rise to, so these two parameters are coupled. With this a 409nm diode will hardly increase more than 5-6nm till it dies. The only way is to be lucky to find a freak diode to start with.

Singlemode
 
I haven't found any of my 405nm diodes to be far from 405nm either. Was beginning to think I was just very lucky that they were all within a nm of being 405nm.
 
I’ll have to try and find the thread I saw the data. It’s possible that they are lower than 408. But the batch that was being spectro’d sat higher. :thinking:
 
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