I thought I'd share a little project I've been putting together today with some found parts around my room. I have wanted a continuous-on laser of high power for various purposes, and didn't want to spend a few hunderd (or thousand) for it.. plus, I wanted to have some fun.
I took the laser out of a old version luckyduck 110 (their new lasers are no longer the same quality edit 2/2007), modded it to continuous current mode, and did the various 'stages' to the optics for optimal output and thermal conduction from the diode and crystal. Then stuck a peltier (thermoelectric cooler) on a heatsink and made a aluminum bracket for the laser. The backet is held down with nylon screws to the heatsink so heat isn't transferred through them from the hot to cold side.
I then connected the laser to a li-ion battery and the TEC to a power supply and started cranking up the diode current. at about 350 mA, it was about as bright as my 40 mW atlasnova pointer, which can barely make dents in electrical tape. Now at 400mA, it cleanly and quickly slices electrical tape and is quite a bit brighter than the 40mW.
I wonder how much the diode can take? I'm going to fix an LED in front of it and look for power variations that might hint at diode damage. So far, I'm keeping the cold side of the TEC at about 15 degrees to avoid condensation.
Soon I'll post mW readings.
What do you think?
:rock:
I took the laser out of a old version luckyduck 110 (their new lasers are no longer the same quality edit 2/2007), modded it to continuous current mode, and did the various 'stages' to the optics for optimal output and thermal conduction from the diode and crystal. Then stuck a peltier (thermoelectric cooler) on a heatsink and made a aluminum bracket for the laser. The backet is held down with nylon screws to the heatsink so heat isn't transferred through them from the hot to cold side.
I then connected the laser to a li-ion battery and the TEC to a power supply and started cranking up the diode current. at about 350 mA, it was about as bright as my 40 mW atlasnova pointer, which can barely make dents in electrical tape. Now at 400mA, it cleanly and quickly slices electrical tape and is quite a bit brighter than the 40mW.
I wonder how much the diode can take? I'm going to fix an LED in front of it and look for power variations that might hint at diode damage. So far, I'm keeping the cold side of the TEC at about 15 degrees to avoid condensation.
Soon I'll post mW readings.
What do you think?
:rock:
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