''THE CORE''
GREEN LASER

Wicked Lasers 'THE CORE'' Green Laser, retail $34.99 (www.laserpointer.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Laserpointer.com (http://laserpointer.com)
Last updated 09-29-09




(In reference to the envelope I received from Laserpointer.com) around 3:12pm PDT on 06-04-07):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}

This is a green DPSS (diode pumped solid state) laser pointer that is advertised to output 5mW of laser radiation at 532nm in the green part of the spectrum. It includes the two AAA cells it needs.

It comes in a metal (possibly brass) body, with a black exterior finish and the phrase "Wicked Lasers CORE" smartly printed on it in gold.

As of this writing (06-04-07), it is one of the first green laser pointers to be offered via retail for under $35.00.


SIZE



Feed the laser pointer the included Toshiba alkaline AAA cells (see below), and then you'll be ready to rock.

To use the laser pointer, just aim it at something you wish to point out, and press & hold down the button on the barrel for as long as you need the laser spot. Release the button to turn the laser pointer back off. Yes, it really is as easy as that.



To change the batteries in your CORE green laser, unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it in the {vulgar term for feces}bowl, yank that silver handle on the front of the cistern down, and flush it away...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the two used AAA cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of, recycle, or recharge them as you see fit.

Insert two new AAA cells into the barrel, flat-end (-) negative first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.

Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't flush away that tailcap now?

Current usage measures 186.3mA on my DMM's 400mA scale.



This is a laser pointer, not a flashlight. So I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the toilet bowl, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a patio, or inflict upon it punishments that flashlights may have inflicted upon them. So this section of the laser's web page will seem a bit more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

Green 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 532nm green laser (pointer or larger size), there's a BIG infrared laser diode that generates laser radiation at 808nm, this is fired into a crystal containing the rare-earth element "neodymium". This crystal takes the 808nm near-infrared radiation and lases at 1064nm (yes, deeper in the infrared!). This 1064nm laser radiation comes out of the NdYV04 (neodymium yttrium vanadium oxide) crystal and is then shot into a second crystal (containing potassium, titanium, & phosphorus, usually called KTP) that doubles the frequency to 532nm - the bright green color you see. This laser 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 and the neodymium crystal. You don't want that stuff in your green beam, trust me. :-)

This is why green 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 or both crystals need to be turned. With red diode lasers, you just slap in the diode and slap a lens in front of it.

This is a CDRH Class IIIa laser device, measuring 4.515mW on a laser power meter.

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 pocket or bag) if you need to carry it in rainy or snowy weather. If it gets dropped in water or if somebody or something pees on it, you'll probably be SOL, because I do not know how to ressurect a flooded DPSS laser.

There is no pocket clip and the laser has a smooth surface, so retention (the ability to hold onto the laser pointer when your hands are cold, oily, or soaked with water, Diet Pepsi, orange juice, Fanta, coffee, or pee) may be an issue here, and will certainly deduct a few points from its final rating. Even if it's perfect in every other way (and it looks like that may indeed be the case!), I cannot in good conscience rate it a full five stars.



Beam photograph at ~12".
Beam is not white like this photograph makes it appear.
Beam image also bloomed noticeably; it is much smaller in real life.

Measures 4.515mW on a laser power meter.



Beam photograph on a wall at ~10'.
Beam is not white like this photograph makes it appear.

Those rectangular graphic things in the upper left quadrant of this photograph are marquees from:
Nintendo ''R-Type''
Super Tiger...er...uh...Konami ''Super Cobra''
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 graphic toward the right is:
A "BIG SCARY LASER" poster sent by www.megagreen.co.uk



Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of this laser.


Spectrographic plot
Same as above...{alarm sounds} {female computer voice} INPUT OVERLOAD!!!*
Let's try this again...same as above, but deliberately overloaded to check for the pump diode's 808nm laser line.
Note that there is none.


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

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.


I do not have an outdoor laser testing facility at my new location, so I
will not be able to provide any distance photographs from over 200 feet.





TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on 05-20-07, and was received on the afternoon of 06-04-07.

* From the Star Trek TNG episode "Home Soil".


UPDATE 06-14-07:
I have decided to rate this laser 4 1/2 Stars and place it in The Trophy Case on this website.
The absence of a pocket clip is the only thing that prevented me from rating it five full stars.


PROS:
Product is labelled properly for CDRH classification & power output
Price is very low - for a DPSS laser, that is!
Well-filtered for IR
Beam is "clean", with no speckling or other artifacts in it
Lower than usual current consumption for a DPSS laser
Nice looking case


CONS:
No pocket clip - normally this would aid in retention
Not waterproof or submersible - but most pointers aren't. Will not figure into my rating.
More delicate than directly-injected diode laser pointers/modules. Will not figure into my rating.


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown/TBA
    PRODUCT TYPE: Pen style laser pointer
    LAMP TYPE: DPSS diode laser/NdYVO4/KTP crystals
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Very narrow; it's a laser, remember? ;-)
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton momentary on/off on barrel
    CASE MATERIAL: Metal; possibly brass
    BEZEL: Metal; has aperture (hole) for laser beam to emerge
    BATTERY: 2x AAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 186.3mA
    WATER RESISTANT: No
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: 2x Toshiba alkaline AAA cells
    WARRANTY: 1 year

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





''THE CORE'' Green Laser * www.laserpointer.com...






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