80W 532nm YAG up and running! :) [Very image heavy]

[danielbriggs]

Are we likely to see it on the next promo video of a certain lift tower head burning show co.??

I would personally smash it into 10,000 pieces with a lump hammer before I allowed that to happen. (Or push it off the top of said tower)

[Robin]

You tell me!
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~psst/

Thanks for this awesome educational link. Added to the PL Laser Education Wiki.

[Laserman532]

Well beyond me I think.. But I did have a look, and my guess (because that's pretty much what I'm reduced to) is 'no', because Kuiszenga's patent says this: "...the resonator is folded into an "L" shape and utilizes a dichroic mirror or other removal means RM/M2, in order to couple out the harmonic beam travelling in both directions through the crystal. This arrangement also prevents the harmonic beam from passing through the laser medium, which is usually absorbing at the harmonic wavelength."

So it looks like a ring laser might conflict with intent to separate the 532nm light from the gain medium. I'm not sure about the PSST! program in this case, because I couldn't find anything about ring lasers in the copy I ran (dates from 2009), but my guess is that a ring would change gain in some situation by repeat feedback in a way that might cause instability where the current cavity is stable. (Perhaps by thermal lensing changes in YAG if it ends up absorbing 532 nm light). Not that I have any clue what to do even if that is correct.

I was the technician personally mentored by Dirk Kuisengua & Issac Bass for one year during the time they were developing the optical relay (z fold cavity), I really did not know what greatness I was surrounded by at such a young age...To me it was just a cool laser in a great lab. My understanding is that the green was removed from the lasing medium because it would introduce unnecessary thermal energy in to the rod causing thermal hotspots or thermal lensing and competed with the absorption of the IR and added nothing to the gain medium as you stated above

you hit the nail on the head

[The_Doctor]

I was the technician personally mentored by Dirk Kuisengua & Issac Bass for one year during the time they were developing the optical relay (z fold cavity), I really did not know what greatness I was surrounded by at such a young age...To me it was just a cool laser in a great lab. My understanding is that the green was removed from the lasing medium because it would introduce unnecessary thermal energy in to the rod causing thermal hotspots or thermal lensing and competed with the absorption of the IR and added nothing to the gain medium as you stated above

you hit the nail on the head

Thanks for that. Like one of my namesakes (the cane-weilding one with the interesting bedside manner), I tend to trust my instincts even when I'm flying blind. Always nice when a reality check tells me I was going the right way. At times like this I think I could have spent my time better when I was younger. I think any brush with greatness was a remote one that I probably didn't notice at all, instinct or no instinct. But I'll always be grateful to the guy in Ipswich who took the time to teach me Ohm's Law, and to build my own multimeter. Totally informal education, but unquestionably the best.

[mixedgas]

A ring in PSST is simulated by changing any intermediate mirror to the equivalent lens or lens duct. So you only have two end mirrors, but can have more optics in the notation. You just don't see the astigmatism from the angle if you do this.

This can also be done by hand using ABCD matrix notation.
Steve

[Simon]

* HOLDS HANDS UP* - Its mine

I have had good results with the 800 series in the past buy removing the Q switch from the resonator cavity to produces a true CW beam but obviously at a reduced power level but without the dangerous peaks apart from the startup pulse.
(About 15 watts if I remember correctly).

As an unfinished project years ago, I was going to use the now redundant Q switch to modulate the beam output for animation but sold the lot in the end.

As I have just bought this monster, I may have a play although my intention is to keep this as an outside fly zapper as I dont have the balls to use it inside a venue for obvious reasons.


Actually I lied, I purchased this so I can melt Laserman532's computer to stop him insulting these wonderful machines...

[The_Doctor]

Leaving out the Q-switch should increase the average power, shouldn't it? (Or, does using it increase efficiency elsewhere, increasing average power of the whole system?) What I'm not sure of is, even if it does would the pulsed beam increase visibility, all other things being the same? I know that compressing power into a smaller region by reducing beam diameter will increase visibility, but is there any similar benefit to doing it in time too? As far as I know it would only help with a moving beam, but if stationary relative to the observer, it would look the same as true CW. Maybe I missed something... Is there any advantage to a Q-switch in a large scale outdoor beam show?

[tonyaztec]

Simon, As a fellow Westburite, Id sure like to see this beast, point it to the skys tonight and Ill tell you when I see it, thou 80W I should be able to see it in Frome and beyond. Fire it up.

Tony.

[B]* HOLDS HANDS UP* - Its mine[

[Simon]

Without the Q switch, you don't get the dangerous peaks and visibly the beam is dimmer of course.
The upside is that there isn't any "marching ants" as the beam is now true CW.
My original idea was to produce a relatively cheap (excluding power consumption) and powerful beam that is good for high speed scanning.
I hadn't though about compressing the huge beam diameter.... mmmm

[Simon]

Simon, As a fellow Westburite, Id sure like to see this beast, point it to the skys tonight and Ill tell you when I see it, thou 80W I should be able to see it in Frome and beyond. Fire it up.

Tony.

Haha, I used to run one outside at Club Ice many years ago but the army stopped us as they changed Keevil airfield flight path.. !!
This one destined for the roof of the biggest club in Somerset...