LASEVER LSR473-ML-100
204mW BLUE DPSS LASER
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Lasever LSR473-ML-100 204mW Blue DPSS Laser, retail AU$1,345.00 (US$1,350.27)* (http://cgi.ebay.com...)
Manufactured by Lasever Inc. (www.lasever.com)
Last updated 06-24-12

* IMPORTANT: Pricing is accurate as of 06-23-12. Please visit the Currency Calculator for the latest currency conversion rates from Australian dollars to US dollars.




(In reference to the package I received from China at 2:54pm PDT on 07-31-06):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}

This is just the second blue DPSS laser I have seen. It is advertised to have an output of 100mW at 473nm in the blue region of the spectrum. It is *NOT* intended to be used as a pointer or as a cat toy; it is far, far, FAR too powerful for that.

The product consists of four components: a laser head designed to be affixed to a heatsink, the heatsink itself, a driver circuit, and a power supply that plugs into any three-slot 100 to 240 volts AC 50Hz or 60Hz power receptacle.

The driver appears to be the Lasever LSR-PS-I.


SIZE



To use this laser, get your hands on a standard IEC cord (this type of cord is most commonly found connecting your computer to AC power; you should be able to find them inexpensively at a computer store), and plug the female end into the switching power supply furnished with this laser. Plug the end of the thin cord from this power supply into the receptacle for it in the laser's driver circuit.

Plug the end of the AC cord into any three-slot 100 to 240 volts AC 50Hz or 60Hz power receptacle, and wait for several seconds (5.5 seconds, measured) for the laser to energize and begin producing a beam. This delay is intentional, so that the unit complies with CDRH rules for a Class IIIb device.

A beam emission indicator LED in the driver assembly comes on after this delay to let you know that the laser is operating.

When you're finished using it, unplug the power supply from the wall.

If you intend to use this laser for more than several minutes at a time, it is recommended you affix the included heat sink to the bottom of the laser head using screws that you furnish yourself. I do not know the shaft diameter or thread pitch of the screws; and judging by the size of the cutouts in the laser head for them, you'll very probably need washers too.

From an email I received from the seller: "The screws are metric m3 type screws".



Because this product is designed to be line-powered, this section can and will be skipped.

Current consumption is not yet known; I'd rather not cut up a >$1,350.00 device I paid perfectly good money for until *AFTER* the warranty period has expired.



This is a laser, not a flashlight. So I won't whack it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of an outdoor patio, run over it with a 450lb electric wheelchair, try to drown it in the toilet bowl or the cistern, throw it, let my housemate's kitties go #1 on it, stomp on it, or subject it to other abuses that a flashlight might have to endure.

Blue diode lasers are a lot different than those common red lasers you see all the time.

In a 640nm red laser pointer, there's a red-emitting diode and a lens to collimate (focus) the beam.

In a 473nm blue DPSS laser, there's a BIG infrared laser diode that generates laser light at 808nm, this is fired into a crystal called Nd:YVO4 (containing neodymium yttrium vanadium oxide) that lases at 946nm; this laser radiation is finally fired into a crystal called LBO (containing lanthanum boron oxide) that doubles the frequency to 473nm - the bright blue color you see. This light is then collimated (focused) by a lens and emerges out the laser's "business end". Just before the lens, there's a filter that removes any stray IR (infrared) radiation from the pump diode & Nd:YVO4 crystal.
You don't want that stuff in your blue beam, trust me.

This is why blue diode lasers are so much more expensive than red ones. Lots of itty bitty parts, and they all need to be aligned by hand. If the polarisation is "off", one of the crystals needs to be turned. With red diode lasers, you just slap in the diode and slap a lens in front of it.

VERY IMPORTANT!!! This laser is NOT a toy, and you MUST NOT shine it into your eyes, other people's eyes, pets' eyes, for that matter, the eyes of any person or animal you encounter. Eye damage can occur faster than the blink reflex can protect them, regardless of what species' eyes you irradiate with this laser. So just don't do it.
And for heaven sakes (and for Pete sakes and for your sakes too) do not shine this laser at any vehicle, whether ground-based like a car or truck, or air-based like a helicopter, airplane, or jet. And if you shoot it at a person in the dark and he turns out to be a police officer, he may think he's being targeted, pull his gun, and hose you down with it.
This is a CDRH Class IIIb laser device. Treat it with respect, and it'll treat you with respect.

This laser is not water-resistant, so please be extra careful when using it around sinks, tubs, toilets, fishtanks, pet water bowls, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. And you'll probably want to cover it up or otherwise get rid of it (such as by putting it in a box or bag) if you need to carry it to some destination or other in rainy or snowy weather.

This laser is TE (thermoelectric) cooled; so it will be perfectly normal for the heatsink it is mounted on to become rather warm.

The driver circuit has an over-temperature auto-shutdown. When the temperature inside the laser gets higher than a set temperature (which I don't know), the driver circuit will turn off the laser. A red LED turns on to show that the protection is working. You should turn off the power and add a heat sink to the laser. It's purpose is to help save the laser's life , please do not attempt to defeat it.

This laser appears to operate in CW (continuous wave) mode, not pulsed - unless the pulse repetition rate is too rapid to be detectable by visual means. And the closest mode I can identify that this laser appears to operate as is TEM00 (Transverse Electromagnetic Mode 00) - that is, the beam emerges mainly as a single spot with a gaussian power distribution.



Beam photograph at 12".
Beam image bloomed SUBSTANTIALLY; it is not white in the center.
Measures over 120mW on a Sper Scientific Pocket Laser Power Meter # 840011.


Laser power oputput analysis
Measures 204mW on a LaserBee 2.5W USB Laser Power Meter w/Thermopile.



Beam photograph at ~10'.
Beam image also bloomed SUBSTANTIALLY; it is not white in the center.


Beam photograph at ~10', with photoflash.

Those rectangular graphic things at the upper left are marquees from:
Midway ''Omega Race''
Sega ''Star Trek''
Williams ''Joust''
Venture Line ''Looping''
Universal ''Mr. Do!'s Castle''
Jaleco ''Exerion''
Gremlin/Sega ''Astro Blaster''
Atari ''Tempest''
Gottlieb ''Q*bert''
upright coin-op arcade video games from the 1980s.

And that red star thing on the marquees is from an American DJ Laser Widow.



Beam itself, using the spray from an aerosol bomb to make the beam visible.



Beam itself, just shining in a room in somewhat subdued light.



Beam on a ceiling, using a strong magnifying optic to show the beam shape.
*** VERY IMPORTANT *** !!!
The dark spots do not actually exist in the beam!!!
They are from the lens assembly, not the laser!!!!!



Beam on a ceiling, with the laser's collimating lens assembly removed.



Beam itself outdoors, using smoke to make the beam visible.



Beam itself outdoors; no smoke at all was used.



Beam itself indoors; the new camera was used.
This is a tobacco-free home, so no smoke was used.



Beam spot on a structure ~200 feet away in full daylight (4:28pm PST 11-29-06).
Telephotograph (9x) was used.


PRELIMINARY LASER STABILITY CHARTS:
Spectrographic analysis
One minute of operation.


Spectrographic analysis
Five minutes of operation.
The really screwed up power output (swings from maximum to nothing and then back to maximum again; repeats) were caused by the laser's power supply inexplicably going into thermal shutdown mode and then cycling back to normal; lather, rinse, repeat.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser, with IR filter removed.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser; newer spectrometer software & settings used.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser; spectrometer's response narrowed to a range of 450nm to 490nm.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser with IR filter removed; newer spectrometer software & settings used.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser; newest spectrometer software settings used.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of this laser; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 471nm and 474nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is 472.994nm.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the pink fur of a Patrick Star plush (stuffed critter) when irradiated with this laser.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of a uranated* glass marble when irradiated with this laser.

*"Uranated" - infused with an oxide of uranium, *NOT* pissed on.
Commonly referred to as "Vaseline glass" because it has
a distinct pale yellow-green color when not being irradiated.

Note spelling: "urAnated", not "urEnated","urInated",
"urOnated", "urUnated", or sometimes "urYnated".


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of a pair of Coherent brand argon-ion laser safety goggles when irradiated with this laser.

USB2000 Spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis (collimating assembly removed).
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.



Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing the laser lighting a wooden match.
Laser safety goggles were placed in front of the camera lens, which is why no blue is visible.
It is approximately 4.1 megabytes (4,252,136 bytes); dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.


Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing the laser trying to light a wooden match.
It is approximately 4.5 megabytes (4,864,928 bytes); dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twenty five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.


Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing the laser popping a red party "ballon" (yes, it's spelled that way on the package they came in).
It is approximately 0.7 megabytes (796,692 bytes); dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.




YourTube video showing this laser irradiating & spinning the vanes of a Crooke's Radiometer.

This clip is approximately 7.5553498342 megabytes (7,671,968 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than thirty seven minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide any of them in other formats, so please do not ask.



And here's a photograph of an Exveemon plush with this laser. Exveemon is blue, and has a weapon called a "Vee Laser".
Veemon, digivolve to...EXVEEMON!!!
{shouting} VEEEEEE LASERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

The Vee Laser isn't blue, but Exveemon himself is, so I believed it appropriate for this web page.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on Ebay on 07-14-06, and was received at 2:54pm PDT on 07-31-06.




UPDATE: 08-07-06
I received some screws today courtesy of a kind Candlepower Forums member, and used them to affix the laser head to the heatsink. They're just barely long enough, but they *DO* fit.


UPDATE: 06-07-07
From an email I received from the laser expert I loaned this laser to, comes this:

473 nm - looks like the color of a 470 nm blue LED, just a hair more turquoisish.
I have this burning away at a white styrofoam cup for now. I will do fluorescence experiments and other experiments later.

Failed to burn a darker image area on a piece of the scrap paper that you used as padding. On my skin, the beam feels warm, sometimes a bit "sting-ee".

Viewing the bright blue spot: It does not look arc-like bright, but I have gotten afterimages that took a few minutes to fade, even when viewing from 1-2 feet away in brighter room light.


UPDATE: 10-01-09
I was told by the laser expert I loaned this unit to more than two years ago that it appeared as though the cable entering the laser head itself looked like it was beginning to fatigue; and I concurred with this assesment.
To that end, I have effected a preemptive repair with some of that "Mighty Puddy" that was being advertised on United States television not all that long ago. Mighty Puddy is actually a kneadable epoxy, and so far, it appears to have been successful with this job.




UPDATE: 02-14-11
I received a message several days ago staying that the manufacturer of this unit is almost certainly Lasever out of China. So I have updated this eval. as appropriate.


UPDATE: 02-15-11
I have a confirmation that this is a Lasever product; its date of manufacture was July 2006.





PROS:
Unique, attention-getting color that's radiant and unusual for a small laser
Beam is "clean", with no visible speckling or artifacts around it
Powerful enough to burn things; but I'd expect that out of a 204mW+ laser
Unique, attention-getting color...o wait I said that already.


CONS:
Fragile interior construction - like all DPSS lasers. Will not figure into my rating
Not water-resistant - but most other DPSS lasers aren't either. Will not figure into my rating
CDRH warning label is not on the laser or its driver.


    MANUFACTURER: Lasever Inc.
    PRODUCT TYPE: Blue DPSS laser
    LAMP TYPE: DPSS laser
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Very narrow, it's a laser, remember?
    SWITCH TYPE: N/A
    CASE MATERIAL: Metal
    BEZEL: Metal; small aperture (opening) for the laser beam to exit
    BATTERY: N/A
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: No
    SUBMERSIBLE: NO WAY HOZAY!!!
    ACCESSORIES: Power supply, driver circuit, heatsink assembly
    NOT INCLUDED, BUT DESIRED: Screws, washers to mount laser head on heatsink
    COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star Rating





Lasever LSR473-ML-100 204mW Blue DPSS Laser * http://cgi.ebay.com...






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