Information Unlimited's LAPNRED300 - too good to be true?

[ixfd64]

Information Unlimited (Amazing1.com) is selling 660 nm portable lasers up to 300+ mW. However, the specs really make my head spin.

The website lists the beam specs as <1.5 mrad at 1.5 mm.

The folks at LPF (link) are saying that it is a multi-mode diode laser. The thing about multi-mode diode lasers is that they have really bad specs - something like 5 mrad at 5 mm, not 1.5 mrad at 1.5 mm.

It's possible that it is a DPSS laser that uses a frequency-doubled 1,320 nm beam, but from what I've seen, DPSS 660 nm lasers aren't very efficient.

Did anyone else catch that faint whiff of BS? The thing is, I've heard reports of Information Unlimited being a "shady" company. I'm going to take these specs with a grain of salt.

 

[Corona]

Sounds like a DVD laser diode based product. The DVD red diodes are TEM00 (AFAIK), 660nm, in the right power range, and best of all, low cost - in fact many members here have home-brewed lasers from DVD burner drives, including myself. There's a long thread on DVD diode laser projects, search the forum...

The beamfront of these diodes is pretty good and the divergence / spot size stated should be quite possible, with decent collimating optics.

There's no way it's a DPSS since a 1320nm IR laser diode is "unobtanium". At least, I've never heard of one (this is Nd:YAG territory AFAIK).

And I would certainly refrain from judging any company based on specifications that are technically feasible.

 

[ixfd64]

Well, Viasho does sell a 1,320 nm laser.

http://www.viasho.com/e_1320nm.htm

 

[Phenol]

There are single diode emitters at 1.3um with multiple quantum well structure, mainly intended for telecom applications. In fact, it is possible to design LDs for wavelengths beyond 10um using this technique by varying the thickness of some layers.