Why do lasers cost loads as the mW go higher?

[JapanMan2]

I never got why the price increased alot as the mW go up, especially for the blue lasers.

isn't it all to do with the circuit board to let out certain much power? i really don't get what make's it this way...

 

[maxkillz]

well for higher powers you need higher quality parts to sustain those powers. a blue laser needs a TON of IR light to make a little blue as they are only about 3% efficient. you need higher quality crystals for higher powers. same with green lasers. red lasers are fairly cheap, for under $40 you can make a >200mW red laser or for under $50 a >120mW blu-ray

 

[JapanMan2]

ooo thanks ;D

 

[maxkillz]

ooo thanks ;D

no prob welcome to the forum BTW ;D I hope you enjoy this place, there is a major group buy of 6x blu-ray sleds with a >200mW violet and >200red diode in there for only $55 and phr sleds are floating around for <$20 and driver boards are cheap here too if you like lasers this is the place to be

 

[thesk8nmidget]

main reason with dpss lasers (lasers like 532nm green and 473nm blue) is because you need multi watt diodes to get less than a watt of that color coming out.

imagine a 800mw blue lasers... it may take a 15-30 watt ir diode to make less than a watt of blue

 

[spyrorocks]

I would have to think that most of the lasers that have exactly the same insides may have less or more power output, and the odds that they make a laser with high output is less than that of making one with high output, so they sell the higher output ones for more because they are rarer.

 

[JapanMan2]

lasers are very fascinating, how they produce the laser itself is beyond me.

 

[frogger]

if you want to, take a peek at the science and lasers section, there's more than enough info in there for you.

 

[Cyparagon]

for the same reason cars cost loads as the power goes higher.
for the same reason wine costs loads as the quality goes higher.

 

[Justin]

The answer is one word: HEAT.

As you increase the power of a laser they generate a lot of waste heat which must be managed in order to keep the device functional. A low powered laser does not need much heat management, a high powered laser needs active cooling, fans, TECs and all kinds of other equipment to keep it functional.

 

[CoZZm0_AU]

for the same reason cars cost loads as the power goes higher.

Exactly the analogy i was thinking of.

 

[rkcstr]

Or computers.... more powerful = expensive.