WHY ? What made that Diode look this way?

[Dawinzi]

I made some research but couldn't find a explanation. I love this Laser so much. It would be nice if somebody could help.

Here a Picture of it:


EDIT: Never droped to Floor, never get wet and i always switch it off after maximum one minute.

 

[Nocturnal]

is the first pic with a lens? if it isn't, then your diode window is dirty. if it is with the lens, its either your lens or diode window.

 

[Dawinzi]

No, its without a Lens and there is no Window.

 

[Nocturnal]

there has to be a window. the little piece of glass on the top of the can

 

[GBD]

InGan dies oxidize over time when exposed to oxygen (which what a window-less 445nm diode will do). Its possible this is simply corrosion and slow death of the diode and its facet. (originally they are filled with a gas and hermaticly sealed, nitrogen or something)

Ill assume there is no collimator in that first picture, but bare diode emission. And the explanation above if you said that it has no window.

How long was the diode in its windowless state?

 

[Dawinzi]

Not a second.

I will make a Photo for you.

 

[GBD]

Thanks for picture, however I still can't quite make it out.
The question was, (from your responce I gather there is a window, but from earlier replys they state otherwise), there is a diode window after all? or there isn't? I still find that unclear.

-If there is a window - its probably dirty as hell for that output and needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
-If there is no window - see post #5

If its niether, then I have no idea.

 

[Dawinzi]

Well, thanks GBD. I'm gonna contact DTR the builder of that Laser to get more exact informations.

 

[DTR]

I think he misunderstood. Yes the diode has a window and my guess would be that it is dirty. Have you tried to clean it. A Q-tip, Alcohol and a light touch may clean it up.:beer:

 

[Dawinzi]

I will try that. Thanks. But i never removed the Lens. So how came dirt into it?

This is without the Lens. Look. The Window is defenetly clean.

 

[Ablaze]

Man.. that looks like an awesome swamp gas effect. Perhaps you could use this laser to make an awesome alien abduction video! :tinfoil:

 

[Nocturnal]

But i never removed the Lens. So how came dirt into it?

If thread tape was used, maybe abit bit fell onto the window.

 

[mark-in-dallas]

I have the same thing with one of my diodes, and after discussing it with RHD we came to the conclussion that it's just normal behavour for the 4454nm diodes.

The 445nm's do not produce round beams to begin with, so the rectangular shape is normal, and the blotchiness (is that a word?) of the pattern is something that you see in all 445's, and all look slightly different, which is probably just due to how the emitter heats up and/or dissapates the light.

I could be way off base, and that's far from an educated guess, but that's what we settled on anyway.

Here's a pic of the diode pattern, with a secomd diode pattern for comparison above the one that produces the blotchy characteristics.

And one of the dot with the laser at about 20ft away. My camera cannot cpature great pics of the dot, but you can kind of see the scatter and how large the dot is.

 

[foulmist]

the diode's window is dirty! that has to be it... I have seen this in person - after cleaning it properly you will get a nice clean output!

100% :tinfoil:

edit: if the dirt has burnt on the window it might be harder to get it cleaned.. sometimes impossible but you should make it a little better at least! I use rubbing alcohol and soft tissue/toilet paper.

 

[Benm]

It seems to be pretty dirty indeed, result of a lot of particles on the window. See attached image of what it should look like, and note the little artifact in the lower right. This is probably a speck of dust on the window as well, but since it's far from the beam center trying to remove it might make things worse.

 

[Dawinzi]

Thank you all for your help but it seams to be as usual. Laser after Laser is dying in my hands. But that is nothing new to me. Everything what uses power is dying after a short while. This happens to me since i was a child. Hexed.
That Diode had a lifetime for about 1 hour all in all.