What lasers are used in this installation?

[diode dude]

I am looking to create an installation that uses a similar concept as this:

Can anyone guess what strength lasers these would be and do the mirrors that are reflecting the laser need to be a special type of mirror?

Thanks.

 

[Speedy78]

I can't imagine they would need to be very strong. Pump the room full of fog machine smoke and the beams will glow brilliantly with a few mW. As for the mirrors I'm not sure. If your not worried about power loss over time then I would assume any type of mirror you can find will work. I'm sure someone else will have a better answer for you on that though.

 

[ARG]

You'll need lots of fog to bring the beams out. You'll want to use dichroic mirrors if you're doing more than a few bounces with each laser, as FS mirrors will loose 10% on each bounce.

Neat picture.

As for the power, impossible to tell. You can make a 50mW laser look like a 5W laser with enough fog and long exposures. You wont need that much power I don't think, 500mW of 638nm should be fine.

 

[diode dude]

Thanks! where would the best place be to purchase a few different color diodes? I am looking for something discreet looking, like a small black cylindrical module that can be plugged direct into 240v.

 

[ARG]

Thanks! where would the best place be to purchase a few different color diodes? I am looking for something discreet looking, like a small black cylindrical module that can be plugged direct into 240v.

You can get black anodized aluminium heatsinks here. Mrcrouse, a member here can probably make you a black cylindrical heatsink.

Currently the easily available diodes come in 445nm (blue) 405nm (dim violet) 638nm, 660nm (red).

The 445nm diodes are 50$ and you get get 2W out of them, the 638nm diodes are 75$ and you can get 750mW out of them without much trouble. 660nm diodes are 10$, but not very powerful and being near the end of the red spectrum they are not very bright per mW either.

You can also get 532nm (green) but you'll have to buy a pre-made module for that as it's not a diode laser.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GRAPE-1pcs-...888?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6c3f2a10

DTR is the man to go to for diodes if you want to DIY these, and you can use a cheap DIY LM317 driver since heat wont be much a problem.

If you want pre-build lab lasers go to here: meierlight

 

[pschlosser]

Not only a fog machine, but you may need to paint the entire room black.
And don't expect to sit on the furniture during the day, because the beams will be too hard to see.
:crackup:

 

[DrSid]

Dichronic mirrors reflect better than FS mirrors ?

 

[ARG]

Dichronic mirrors reflect better than FS mirrors ?

Dichroic mirrors can get >99% reflections sometimes, broadband mirrors get 90-95% reflection.

 

[Cyparagon]

I think you're confusing FS with regular mirrors. FS mirrors do better than 90%.

 

[ARG]

I think you're confusing FS with regular mirrors. FS mirrors do better than 90%.

The good ones from Edmund do, but budget ones are around 90%.