# Just purchased a 2.0 joule pulsed YAG laser



## The_LED_Museum (Sep 3, 2006)

Just purchased a 2.0 joule pulsed YAG laser on Ebay; probably emitting at 1,064nm. The claim is that I can connect it to the photoflash circuit from a camera; I just so happen to have one handy. 
It's clear that this is a CDRH Class IV product; wonder how I'm going to get beam photographs of it for my website. This will be, by far, the most powerful laser in my arsenal. :thumbsup:


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## PhotonWrangler (Sep 3, 2006)

Holy cow!! Watch where you point that thin..


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## ajohnson (Sep 4, 2006)

Hmm. you MIGHT be able to catch the beam with a digital camera, since most of them can see infrared too. Especially if you can do a mod like this guy did:

http://geektechnique.org/index.php?id=254


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 4, 2006)

The only thing is that this is a pulse laser, so the trick will be to ensure the camera's shutter is open when the laser fires. Neither of my cameras do time exposures, so it will be somewhat a matter of "dumb luck" to get the laser beam in the exposure. Guess I'd better stock up on AA cells both for the laser and for the camera...I might need them.


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## jkaiser3000 (Sep 5, 2006)

Since you have the laser hooked to a flash electronics, rig the camera and laser in such a way that when you press the shutter release, the flash/laser is fired too. Can be an electronic trigger or a simple mechanical one. Just be sure not to stand on that beast's path, we don't want you to go 


Also, since we're at it, supposing the flash lasted 1/10 of a sec, how much power would the laser deliver? 1w? 10?, I know there's a way to determine that but, for the life of me, I can't remember what it is . I guess I was'nt paying attention on that class at school


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 6, 2006)

The camera flash circuitry used to power the laser is seperate and isolated from the camera's own flash. The camera does not have a manual shutter release, so I will have to manually coordinate the camera's shutter releasing with the laser firing.

I also want to obtain some YAG laser safety goggles *BEFORE* firing this bad boy up for the first time...better to play it safe ya know. 

(_Edit, a few moments later_)
I found a set of the appropriate safety goggles, and purchased them.


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## shawndoe (Sep 6, 2006)

Hey,

Post a picture of it. It sounds like an SSY-1 in which case there is alot of info on it at SAMs FAQ. If my memory serves you'll find it produces an average of 200-400mW depending on how hard you drive it. It'll have a duty cycle of like 2-4 pulses per second, with an average peak power of 500KW to 1MW. Goggles are a must with pulsed YAG.

I look forward to seeing it in operation. Have a good one.
Shawndoe


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## jkaiser3000 (Sep 6, 2006)

Is this badboy producing 1064nm or is it being doubled to 532nm? I reckon 500KW of laser light (any wavelength) is enough to warrant a pair of goggles :touche:. Wise idea to wait for one.

As for firing, you could probably use a photodiode, so when the camera's flash flashes, the flash will trigger the laser's flash circuitry. hehe, too many flashes here . Basically, the photodiode becomes the flash's switch. When there's no light, it will prevent current from flowing through the circuit (the diode part of it working). When there's light, current will flow and it will trigger the flash. This idea is based on the assumption that the photodiode will be able to handle the current flowing in the circuit.

Or, perhaps you can use one hand to fire the camera, while the other is used to fire the laser at the same time?


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 6, 2006)

This laser almost certainly radiates at 1,064nm; I did not pay that much for it. Certainly less than a frequency-doubled YAG would cost.

Looks like I'll be manually firing the laser and triggering the camera; as no photoflash is to be used


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 9, 2006)

The laser came today; it's quite a bit smaller than I expected it to be, and the seller also included a pair of laser safety goggles and an 808nm 50W diode laser module that requires 20 amps at 3.6 volts. 

The YAG laser is the one on the right in this photograph.


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## shawndoe (Sep 10, 2006)

WOW... 

Be real carefull with that 50Watt 808nm, Thats more dangerous then a CO2 laser in that it's not an eye safe wavelength. Also It's water cooled, In theory it should use distilled water, but you could probably run tap water through it, might want to check on that for sure before doing it.

The YAG looks like an SSY-1, theres lot's of info at SAM's about them, and how they work. If you don't mind my asking what did the whole package set you back? Going rate for an SSY-1 on Ebay at the moment is $99-$125.

Play Safe.
Shawndoe


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 10, 2006)

shawndoe said:


> WOW...
> 
> Be real carefull with that 50Watt 808nm, Thats more dangerous then a CO2 laser in that it's not an eye safe wavelength. Also It's water cooled, In theory it should use distilled water, but you could probably run tap water through it, might want to check on that for sure before doing it.


For testing purposes (if it is operated well below its 60 amp rating), water cooling is not necessary if the unit is operated for just a few seconds.
I won't even attempt to connect it so it reaches lasing threshold until I obtain laser goggles that have a high attenuation at 808nm. Since money is now an issue, it might be awhile before I can operate that laser module at or above lasing threshold.








 shawndoe said:


> The YAG looks like an SSY-1, theres lot's of info at SAM's about them, and how they work. If you don't mind my asking what did the whole package set you back? Going rate for an SSY-1 on Ebay at the moment is $99-$125.
> 
> Play Safe.
> Shawndoe


I paid $170.50 for the laser, plus a pair of YAG goggles and that 808nm diode bar module - and if I remember correctly, there was no shipping charge.


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## WildRice (Sep 10, 2006)

I have worked MANY years on YAG LASERS from 3W to 4000KW. In doing fiber tuning for fiber fed YAGs an IR camera is needed to 'see' the light either from the core or the cladding of the fiber. The camera we had issued was an EXPENSIVE piece of equipment. I tried using a low cost night vision monocular but it did not work. The cutoff of the cheapie was around 850nm or so. I think the cheap IR viewer was a gen I nightscope, and the more usefull one was a GEN II, OR the 'OWL' just had an extra filter. I do NOT think that there are any commercial digital camera CCD's that will pick up 1064nm. ALSO, when fiber tuning at 2000W (yea, 2KW) with the fiber mounted on a ladder about 6ft off the ground and pointed down, the spot on the floor was about 10 inches in diameter. I could barely see the beam with the good IR viewer. I COULD however see the floor smoking lightly and the occassional fly burn up in flight (REALLY COOL)

ALSO, the beam charastics of a YAG are VERY different than a standard CO2 or visiable LASER. The beam diverges VERY quickly. The rods in the systems I worked on were about 1/4 inch in diameter, so the beam at the OC was about the same. With NO collomating optics the beam was about 2" at about 6feet or so.

as with any class IV LASER system.... be VERY careful. 1064nm is just as dangerout as 808nm, in the fact that your eye WILL focus the energy on your retina and will instantall pop spots if you are not carefull. Get a pair on glasses spec'ed for 1064nm. 

HAVE FUN

Jeff


Also, to get that unit to operate properly as a PULSE LASER, you will need a Q-switch, or high speed optical switch. When pulsing, the diode stack is on CW, the rod is constantly being 'charged' the q-switch is placed 'useually' between the rod and the OC, or output coupler, or partiall reflectine optic......... The q-switch causes the beam path to be about 3-5 deg off center when active, this causes the rod to NOT lase, and in short saturated the nd in the structure. When the q-switch is pulsed off, the nd is allowed to 'dump' all its energy in one shore pulse. this can be done in excess of 50 kHz. I cave calculated that a 100W LASER at the right freq and pulse can output in excess of 1000W in the pulse.


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 10, 2006)

My Nikon CP-775 digital camera can "see" this wavelength; I was sent a 1,300nm LED and was able to obtain a photograph of it while energized:






The camera is malfunctioning though; the LCD "viewfinder" on the back lights up white all the time; it will still produce photographs & movies though.

I'm not certain if this laser has a Q-switch in it though; I guess the only way to find out is to shoot a movie and see if the laser discharge is captured in there. FYI the laser can be viewed through (while disconnected, of course!); the image you see has a light purplish tinge; so I'm going to guess that there is no Q-switch in there.

I have laser safety goggles rated for 1,064nm; they were included with the laser itself.


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## The_LED_Museum (Sep 10, 2006)

According to some information I read on SAM's Laser Faqs, the unit I have might have a peak power of 4 megawatts!!!
(that's 4,000,000 watts!!!



)


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