Diode Laser

Question: How do I get the laser diode out of my laser pointer? I've taken apart my laser pointer and now all thats left is part of the shell of the pointer and the laser diode that was jammed in it. I've tried pushing the diode out, but I'm afraid I'll break it. What can I do? Also, if I should keep trying to push it out, should I push on the 3-prong end or the lens thing end?

Answer: most laser pointers have an LED in them. however, if you have a real one, what i would do is take a blunt object and push it through from the opening towards the back- something like a pen cap. the '3-prong' end are the leads, if you break them, its a real pain to resolder them back on.

Question: How powerful does a laser diode have to be to engrave metal? How powerful does a laser diode have to be to engrave metal? What kind of milliwatt, and wavelength would the diode have to be to be able to engrave metal?

Answer: A 30W laser should be able to engrave metal, usually these diodes are only made in 808nm wavelenght.

Question: How do I power a laser diode taken from a laser pointer? I have a laser diode from a laser pointer and I want to power it, but I have no clue how to do so. Can anyone help?

Answer: You need to know the required current and, depending on the circuitry you use, the required voltage. You can use a transistor to give it the proper current, but this requires knowledge in electrical engineering. This method requires only the required current. Otherwise, you can use a resistor to set the current with the diode's voltage drop. This method required knowing both the voltage AND the current. Search Google for sample schematics and the like.

Question: What can i Do whit a laser diode and from Where can i get an audio transmiter? Ok so i what could i do whit a laser diode?(Lilke what can a 14 year old boy in Romania can do whit a laser diode)And i rather prefer making a radio or something like that but what?And can i get an audio transmitter from an audio card? i have an old one on my 30-20 year old computer and i have nothing to do whit it!So what can i do whit these

Answer: You could build a power supply for it (See link below). You could send voice over it, by modulating the power supplied to the diode. With AM modulation, you would put the secondary winding of a small transformer in series with the power supply, then use an audio amplifier to apply audio to the other winding of the transformer. To recieve the audio, you would use photo cell attached to another audio amplifier

Question: What's the best laser diode protection circuit I can make with just resistors and capacitors? So I bought a 240mw red laser diode from a burner, and an AixiZ module. I have a 2 cell battery holder, or a 3 cell flashlight. I have a ton of resistors and a few capacitors, no LM317s or anything, so my guess it I'm stuck with the 2 cell battery holder, but using just caps and resistors, how should I wire it to maximize life? I want it to be at least 150MW...

Answer: put the biggest resistor you can between the diode and the batteries. That reduces the current and will increase life. .

Question: How would one go about upping the power level of a class II laser diode? I am trying to up the output power of a class II laser diode from an old barcode scanner. How could I increase the power to, at least, a class IIIb laser?

Answer: You'd need a more powerful lens to do that. or...if you're motivated, take a diamond shaped crystal attach it to the front of the scanner, flat-table side facing the laser and the tip shoots a concentrated laser beam. But be careful, and i dont know you if you try to do something illegal with that.

Question: My PS3 stopped working after an update should i get a laser diode or a normal laser to fix the problem? I think the laser diode is meant to be for the blu ray but you cant get it in the uk so im supposing its just for the US. Should i stick with buying a normal laser.

Answer: Google it.

Question: What batteries to use with a 150mw laser diode.? I just bought a 405nm 150mw laser diode and I dont know what batteries to use with it. What kind of batteries and in what arrangement. For example 3 AA batteries in a series circut. Help would be very appreciated.

Answer: If it is just a laser diode then you will need more than batteries. They generally require support circuitry for them to function properly and you can burn it up without it. If it's more of a laser diode module and has the supporting circuitry already in it, then you might just be able to put batteries across the wires. I'd start by looking up a spec file online for it's part number which should be printed on it somewhere.

Question: how powerful is the infrared laser diode on a cd burner and what is it's wavelength? how powerful is the laser diode (in mw) is cd burner? (16X 20X 24X I don't care just specify which please). Also, what is the exact wavelength? Is it near infrared or infrared?

Answer: Only about 5mW 780nm

Question: Where can I get a driver for a 200mW laser diode? I have a 200mW laser diode and want to make a burning laser ,but I'm not sure if I need a driver or not.If I do,where can I get one?

Answer: It probably can be driven by a constant current source, which you should be able to build yourself. Also note, 200mW, as someone has mentioned earlier, is a fairly high power for a Laser, even though it doesn't sound all that special. It can and WILL blind you or others even if you are exposed to the light for only a short time. If you are not aware of and familiar with the proper safety procedures dealing with such a device, I suggest you not mess with it. Also, if it is for burning, I presume it also will not likely produce visible light, since non-visible frequencies are much better for burning applications, making it even more dangerous.

Question: How do you produce laminar light WITHOUT a laser diode? i know how a laser diode does this, but how can i do it without using 1? is this even possible?

Answer: I assume you mean non-divergent, when you say 'laminar'. If that is the case, then any laser (not just a diode laser) will work. If you are not using a laser, the only other way to do this is with a point source of light. The smaller the point source the better. By taking a black piece of cardboard and poking a tiny hole in it, you will get your laminar light. Now light going through a pin hole will diverge, but you could then place a lens to columnate it just like laser light. The problem with the pinhole is that the smaller it is, the better it will work, but the less light you will get.

Question: What is a good wire size for the positive and negative leads on a laser diode? I'm trying to make a burning laser for a school project and i'm wondering what a good wire size would be for the positive and negative leads that need to be soldered to the diode

Answer: most LEDs are using very little current (10-20mA) so concern is not resistance of the wires but their mechanical integrity. laser diodes can draw more (100mA or even more) but this is usually in pulsed mode, not continuous. still this is comparatively very little and you are welcome to choose what is practical. i would suggest wires size AWG22-AWG26 for anything under 300mA, AWG20 for 500mA and so on (you can lookup "AWG table" to see more). to be sure of current draw, check datasheet of your device or simply measure it's current while in operation.

Question: why a Laser diode gives more light with a bottom cell batteries than with a phone charger of more volts? I connected a laser diode to a cell phone charger and the light from the laser was less Britte than when connected to a Battery, besides the laser diode got hot. So what can I do to get the light brighter and to reduce the heat in the diode.

Answer: A phone charger isn't necessarily the same thing a power supply. It's a battery charger. They often times do more than just supply a voltage. Sometimes they adjust the current over time to match what the battery needs to charge making them very bad to use for anything else. Also, unlike a light bulb which will get brighter as voltage increases, a diode drops a certain voltage. Putting more voltage across it won't affect that fact and can actually damage it. If you want a brighter laser diode then the only real option you have is to get a higher mW laser.

Question: Is There Anything Within a Laser Diode that will Explode? So I'm trying the Kipkay laser project, and I can't seem to get my laser diode out of the Axiz housing. all that's left is the diode and the housing around it from the module. I recently had an idea to heat the thing up, but I'm wondering if there is anything within a laser diode that could potentially catch fire and explode, or something along those lines. Any ideas about this or alternate ways to get the diode out? Thanks.

Answer: Ask yourself whether getting is what you really want through your laser diode

Question: If A laser diode from a cd/dvd-r comes in contact with a magnet, is the laser diode ruined? I took the laser diode out of my cd/dvd-r to attach the laser to a power source and make a laser. But when I went to take the laser out, it came in contact with a magnet. Does this mean that the laser diode won't work anymore?

Answer: Yes and No, the LASER will work fine, the problem would be if / when you remove the laser diode and you are not using proper ESD (electrostatic discharge) precautions. This would be the most likely problem ESD, however, if the magnet is super strong like an electromagnet which could induce a damaging current. But it would need to be a really strong magnet. Anyway LASERS are extremely ESD sensitive devices, I happen to be a fiber optics engineer and work with LASERS all the time, daily in fact. The other thing to watch out for is you should wear protective eye wear when working with any LASER device under power, even reflections from a low power LASER can damage your eyes...please be careful....I do commend you for being an experimenter! ;-)

Question: Can a laser pointer with a blu laser diode burn things? I am going to build a laser pointer with a Blu-ray diode out of a broken ps3... and I was wondering if it is powerful enough to burn stuff

Answer: Any laser with sufficient power can burn things. Diodes commonly found in consumer equipment can't handle a whole lot of power. Those used for burning, as opposed to reading, discs can handle more power but you still have to limit the current to avoid burning out the diode. The things that you may have seen or read about using a diode from a DVD burner are sort of true if you are igniting matches or melting small holes in black plastic bags. The novelty wears off quickly. One thing that you can explode all too easily (picture microscopic popcorn) are the retina cells in your eyes. Ruptured cells can also damage nearby cells and the damage is permanent. Use extreme caution. Never look directly at the beam or a mirror reflection even if the beam appears to not be on or is very dim. Don

Question: How to make A burning laser with A DVD burning laser Diode? I have been looking up green lasers and found they cost A lot anyware from $50 for A cheep one to $500 for A good one that will burn stuff light A match from 100 Feet away cut stuff and more But then you can see the line in the air not good if you plan to be sneaky you can take A DVD burning laser out of the player add A lens And you got A burning laser for $50 how bout that well what I would like to know is can you buy just the laser diode from some ware then I would not have to rip apart A DVD burning drive and chance ****ing up the laser diode thank you

Answer: Dude, dvd burner's diode no where near to burn anything! It just give some heat where it's focused and special plastic material of DVD melts and takes a shape. You can buy diode of DVD players around $1-2.

Question: Has anyone had experience with tattoo removal using a Quazar LD60K Diode Laser? I have a friend with extensive tattoos and is desparate to have them removed (long story). She cannot afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to have it done, so we've looked into buying the equipment. I've found a Quazar LD60K laser advertised as for tattoo (& hair) removal that is barely within my price range, but it's a huge amount of money. Has anyone had any experience with one of these things that could let me know if they really work? Thanks!

Answer: As someone going through tattoo removal, let me give you some advice. DO NOT do it yourself, or buy a machine and attmept to have someone do it for you. When I get mine done, there are NUMEROUS machines running at once. There is the lazer, the coolant machine, seriously... you can burn yourself/her SO BADLY!!! I have gone twice, and you wouldn't know if I didn't tell you. You have to wait AT LEAST 4 weeks between treatments, and the longer you wait the better it works. you need to give the ink time to be absorbed into your body once it has been broken up by the laser.

Question: What does "nm'' stand for when reading the laser diode wavelength? I bought this laser and it says 650 nm laser diode wavelength

Answer: nm = nanometer

Question: why does the light from a laser diode diverge? if the light from a laser diode diverges then how can it be called a laser beam.

Answer: I don't think you can say that the light from any specific laser is immune to divergence; divergence, in general, occurs with all electromagnetic "beams." Non-divergent behavior is not the hallmark of a laser; beam coherence is. Now, divergence is generally desirable at a minimum, but the reasons for a certain beam's divergence can be many and varied.