Modified Green Laser

[007]

Has anyone bought a "modified" green laser pointer. I've heard claims that they some companies are selling grn lasers that put out 10 + mw.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I've never heard of such a thing.
Mine "modified" itself, and there are several other known cases of green lasers who's optical characteristics have changed in this manner without user intervention.

However, if one were handy with green laser technology and didn't mind literally ripping open their $250 pointer with no guarantee of positive results, it is theoretically possible to increase the power output by screwing with the intracavity resonator assembly. But you could never again reassemble the pointer and would have to cobble up a new casing (a project box, for example) for the mutilated instrument to live in from that point on.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Recently on EBAY, I saw a guy that sells green modified lasers claiming to get from 10 to 30 mw after modifying...

He even had 4 pictures showing his process with test meter and a press that puts the laser diode back into the tube body...

The bad part? He offers NO WARRANTY.

Anyone else seen this?

Merry XMAS & Happy New Year- Dude

 

[007]

F-Dude is right - checkout Ebay item # 1313616346 and you'll see this guy selling "modified' lasers.

What do you "laser" impressarios think?

 

[DArklite]

I have seen it; here is his URL: http://greenlaser.crosswinds.net

His "upgraded" green lasers are here: http://greenlaser.crosswinds.net/greenlaser2.htm

He is currently selling a 10mW green laser pointer on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1313616346

Looks to me like the "Bad Boy" of laser pointers!

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Be careful, someone told me that this guy that sells the modified lasers is a 19 yr old kid that lives in Seabrook, TX and doesn't know what he's doing.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

The modification he's doing will shorten the life of the diode, probably to a matter of hours or even minutes. Don't expect even the best to last more than a hundred hours or so. Modifying the lasing action by increasing current to the diode is *bad*.

The other problem is that other components on the board are usually selected so they are already at their tolerance anyway (to save money), so when you increase the diode current that much (500mA is mentioned), the power transistor(s) and probably a resistor or two will be running well over limits.

No wonder he offers no warranty. He would lose his shirt if he did.

The only way to modify a green pointer that does not affect it electrically or change its usable lifetime is to fuss with the alignment of the Nd: and KTP blocks with respect to the diode face and with each other & other components in the laser cavity.

I could probably do it, but I'd probably screw up a few lasers for every one I got right, and the procedure itself could take days instead of just minutes.
Maximum power would probably be under 20mW, rather than the 60mW he's getting.
There is one known case of a hobbyist doing this to a laser and getting 17mW out of it, and there are several other known cases where the laser parts realigned themselves with no user intervention, as mine did.

I also noticed his Ebay description says his lasers are Class IIIa.

Edit: The guy who is making this modification e-mailed me with some "corrections".

Apparently, listing his last modification on ebay with a Class IIIa rating was a simple mistake and not something more sinister.

Also, he is doing more than just increasing the diode power, which could only mean he's realigning the optics in the resonator assembly as well as increasing the pump power. That would indeed make it possible to get 50+mW out of one of these, but only with a very carefully controlled modification.

 

[lightlover]

007, and all you other chaps:

I've belatedly realised that this Topic could do better in the "LED, Electroluminescent and Lasers" forum.

Always ready to serve, I'm moving it there forthwith, from Chit Chat's http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=22&t=000137

lightlover