Laser --modification??

Question

is there any way you can modify a laser of 80mW to make it stronger.

????

just serious answers please, and for the record im not intended to hurt people or animals so save the rants..... =)

cheers.

Answer 1

No i'm afriad not...but then agian...

Some manufaturers do use higher power lasers but drive them at lower levels. this normally due to reliablity issues and so you can sometimes get an extra 10-15% out of them...

Other times you can get really lucky and find that they have fitted a much more capable diode due to stock availability. but this is much more unlikely

If it's just a simple laser pen then it's probally got nothin else but batteries connect to to the laser diode.

Now you can try reducing the resistor value, by small amounts, or increasing the voltage, best done with a power supply that you can limit the current. slowly wind the current up until Volts x Amps = roughly 80mW then gingerly (thats a technical term too) turn the curent up a little more. you may be able to get it up to 90mW possibly 100mW before it decides it doesn't want to be a diode anymore.

It should be noted that if the laser diode is already being driven at it's max then increasing the power with result in permanatly damage laser diode

the above method may allow a small increase in power with a reliabilty hit...But there is another way.... :-) and a less technical way too....

If you have an old dvd burner (dont use cd-rom burners, as they are too low power), you can take the laser out of that and fit it in place of the laser diode in your pen.

take a look at

http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Fl...

it's fiddly but will give very good results! dvd burners are typically 250mW

Answer 2

Nope. There are laser amplifiers, but they aren't something you buy at Radio Shack. You'd just have to buy a better laser. You can get them up to 5 watts now.

Answer 3

This is not a rant, just a warning that even an indirect reflection off a surface (not necessarily a mirror, any surface) that hit your eye or someone else's eye for a fraction of a second can result in permanent eye damage.

High power lasers are used in sealed rooms, with no windows, and limited access, with everyone wearing the correct goggles.

Answer 4

You might up the drive voltage a smidgeon. That's a technical term.

Answer 5

A typical 80mW laser would be a laser diode. You can't modify it. So the answer is most probably no.