[sci.electronics] lasers, portable, RE

richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk) (11/04/90)

>>2. Discouraged, I was prowling around in a catalog that had been packaged
>>with the magazine, and found some other company selling 2mw visible red
>>laser diodes for $19.95. Hmmm. I dont know a whole lot about laser diodes.
>>Does the thing just spontaneously start lasing when you exceed the I(th)
>>, or do you have to give them high current pulses, like the older IR
>>laser diodes? (As near as I could tell, the RE thing was just a constant
>>current supplier with a feedback loop through the photodiode integral to
>>the laser diode.) If thats the case, I think Id just get one and start messing
>>around...  
>
>The less expensive laser diodes operate at 780nm versus the expensive
>which operate at 665nm. The 665nm is a much more visabe red beam.

The distressing thing about the Radio Electronics (10/90) construction
article is that it didn't state what the wavelength of the Toshiba
TOLD-9200 laser diode was.  All they say is that it's visible.


-- 
Richard Foulk		richard@pegasus.com