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FrozenGate by Avery

What kills lasers

K

keeperx

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Ok i know that heat kills lasers
I know that broken wires kill lasers
i know that static kills lasers (im assuming it breaks the wires)

but what else kills lasers..

lets assume i have a laser in a vacuum, that is cooled so there is no heat issue. What would kill it ..
 





keeperx said:
Ok i know that heat kills lasers
I know that broken wires kill lasers
i know that static kills lasers (im assuming it breaks the wires)

but what else kills lasers..

lets assume i have a laser in a vacuum, that is cooled so there is no heat issue. What would kill it ..
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what a vacuum has to do with heat, but too lilltle heat will kill it

Excess voltage and/or current will do it.

Mechanical impact (damage) will do it

Lack of sufficient frog's milk will do it.

Peace,
dave
 
Im looking for the mechanism that kills it.

Like is it wire failure, or crystal failure...

if its the crystal, what happens in the crystal that causes it to fail?
 
Heat would cause the crystals to fail.

But to fully answer your question, energy kills lasers.
 
keeperx said:
Im looking for the mechanism that kills it.

Like is it wire failure, or crystal failure...

if its the crystal, what happens in the crystal that causes it to fail?
Click to expand...

Well, with diodes, too much current or voltage causes an imperfection in the dye and from there on it messes up the whole thing.This is called COD.I assume heat and ESD cause the same thing.Or the little really tiny wires that deliver electricity to the dye melt and contact is lost.Well, both scenarios mean your diode is FUBAR. Some diodes die because of a broken window and shakes inside the can messing it all up.

With DPSS lasers I guess the crystals can get too much pump energy that they can't handle and eventually melt(or crack) in lack of heat dissipation.

With mechanical damage, well , depending on how hard it is, the crystals in a DPSS system can get misaligned(like if you drop your laser on the ground), this is fixable.Or the whole thing can get crushed to dust(like if you drop you laser on the ground in front of a moving tank that runs over it), this is only fixable by buying another laser. :P
 
keeperx said:
Im looking for the mechanism that kills it.

Like is it wire failure, or crystal failure...

if its the crystal, what happens in the crystal that causes it to fail?
Click to expand...

Are you asking what is the most vital component in a laser?  
They are systems,  like our body, what “kills” us? Heart, Brain, liver, lungs, etc?  And there are many different types of laser systems each having their own unique properties which all could effectively “kill” the laser if malfunction.  

How about removing the power supply?  Wouldn’t that “kill” a laser?
 
Are you trying to kill a laser to RMA it? :o

Now since I think about it, what is your purpose? :-/

Just give it 12 Volts.
 
Ok, what is the most common failure in diodes???

And please don’t say (operator error) :P
 
i dont want to kill one.. im just trying to understand more about them.

wondering what points fail and what causes failure.

so heat is enemy #1 and voltage is #2 is that correct.

Lets assume i can keep a diode cool.

lets assume that i have the voltage stable..

lets assume i crank up the mA's

will the diode fail, in this situation?

if so, we know its not heat or voltage, so what happenes.
 
Yes it will fail, too much current is also "lethal" even if you cool it well enough and voltage is stable. :P COD.
 
keeperx said:
does the crystal ever get like 'over saturated' with photons or anything?
Click to expand...

Yes, small or inefficient low quality crystals can get too much pump energy into them.They cannot convert all of it into whatever they're supposed to(YVO crystal 1064nm , KTP 532nm, etc...) and I assume the rest is converted to heat.I think thats why bigger systems need active cooling for the crystals too.
 
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