daguin
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- Mar 29, 2008
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Ahh. I've been operating under the assumption that the shorter the distance between the diode and a chunky bit of heatsink the better. My bad, then.
When first turned on, it would lase briefly in TEM00. After it hopped, was turned off and allowed to cool for ~10 seconds and turned back on, it lased for maybe a second or two in TEM00 then switched to TEM01. This leads me to believe that it may be a manufacturer defect (like you said) being exacerbated by a buildup (even within acceptable limits) of heat - what's your take on this hypothesis? Forgive me if I'm beating a dead horse; I observed this behavior and am just curious.
-Trevor
I absolutely agree that your laser was defective and should be replaced.
TECHNICALLY, this mod hop was caused by the crystal or crystal mount heating up. It just was not cause by excessive heat. It was caused by "normal" heat. That's what identified it as "faulty."
The "proximity" of the heat sink to the heat source is a factor. However, heat travels through a good heat conductive metal (brass, silver, aluminum, etc.) MUCH faster than we can easily imagine. It also travels MUCH faster through the metal than it does from metal into the air. That's why it is so important for the heat sink to be as massive as possible. The heat sink must "hold" the heat long enough for it to dissipate into the air to cool.
Peace,
dave
Peace,
dave