One last question

[Geek Tripp]

It seems there is a ceiling for how powerful a laser can be in a certain size. I was wondering if this is due to material costs or if it is literally impossible to have like a 50 watt laser the size of a pen. I have no doubt it comes down to power levels etc. I'll bet many of you are excited for the potential of graohene? I'd obviously not want to break any laws, but I was just wondering if there's anyone working on this. I guess when I think of a laser, all the sci-fi shows I watch come to mind. Lol. How cool would it be to have a pen sized laser that could like cut steel??

 

[Deleted member 42751]

Well, heat sinking is one issue. A very powerful laser generates a LOT of heat, thus you need bigger and bigger pieces of metal to get that heat away. Eventually you have to go to air- and water-cooling which are of course impossible in a pen.

 

[Vision]

Well, heat sinking is one issue. A very powerful laser generates a LOT of heat, thus you need bigger and bigger pieces of metal to get that heat away. Eventually you have to go to air- and water-cooling which are of course impossible in a pen.

For now. :shhh:

 

[Richie89]

Someone needs to start a project, I say maybe.....mmmm maybe the numb08E in an AA Maglite 5 amp driver and two 14500's Lmao!! What would the duty cycle be one that? 5 seconds lol!

 

[Richie89]

I really need to correct my spelling before I post. Stupid auto correct.

 

[bdgreenb]

We gotta get some quantum heat dissipation going on. Then you can just leave your heat sink at home in the freezer

 

[Richie89]

i don't think AA like to pump out out 4.5 amps lolz.

What about 14500's?

 

[VirtueViolater]

Screw the pen, how about an emitter the size of a snickers bar, mounted on a hh rifle size unit. Whats the limiting facter on emitter size/power?

 

[Pi R Squared]

Screw the pen, how about an emitter the size of a snickers bar, mounted on a hh rifle size unit. Whats the limiting facter on emitter size/power?

Not sure there is one. Up until recently only gas lasers were very high power. There have recently been developed solid state lasers for military use that will be in pods carried by UAVs and fighters that will be able to down missiles and aircraft. I read an article about this and watched a video about it at least a few months ago, the technology has already been developed. These pods are small enough but not light weight, I think the remaining problem to solve is powering them, I have a feeling they can probably only get off a few shots at most but I don't know.

Alan

 

[Richie89]

Not sure there is one. Up until recently only gas lasers were very high power. There have recently been developed solid state lasers for military use that will be in pods carried by UAVs and fighters that will be able to down missiles and aircraft. I read an article about this and watched a video about it at least a few months ago, the technology has already been developed. These pods are small enough but not light weight, I think the remaining problem to solve is powering them, I have a feeling they can probably only get off a few shots at most but I don't know.

Alan

Yeah I've watched a lot of those on YouTube, it's mind blowing. I like that 2kw one build by boeing

 

[Pi R Squared]

Any future developments won't surprise me at all anymore, no matter how impressive they may be. Given enough time the sky is the limit.

Alan

 

[Geek Tripp]

But what is the real limiting factor? Is it power source, heat sinc or what? I mean what exactly makes a laser more powerful? It can't be the power given to the atoms because that just creates a higher excited state, so it simply means a different wave of protons. Do you pack more atoms in a given space? If so, is there a limit to the amount?

 

[Richie89]

But what is the real limiting factor? Is it power source, heat sinc or what? I mean what exactly makes a laser more powerful? It can't be the power given to the atoms because that just creates a higher excited state, so it simply means a different wave of protons. Do you pack more atoms in a given space? If so, is there a limit to the amount?

These guys know a lot more than me but yeah there are so many factors in play. A lot of what you said plus I'm not sure the materials exist yet to handle so much heat from say a 15-20w 450 diode inside the actual diode, laser diodes and Leds do have a their similarities but for the most part leds get more efficient and produce more photons with less energy consumption therefor useing same amount of current for more light. I'm not sure Laser diodes work the same so I actually don't know if lasers can ever get more powerful and use less energy your guess is as good as mine

 

[diachi]

But what is the real limiting factor? Is it power source, heat sinc or what? I mean what exactly makes a laser more powerful? It can't be the power given to the atoms because that just creates a higher excited state, so it simply means a different wave of protons. Do you pack more atoms in a given space? If so, is there a limit to the amount?

These guys know a lot more than me but yeah there are so many factors in play. A lot of what you said plus I'm not sure the materials exist yet to handle so much heat from say a 15-20w 450 diode inside the actual diode, laser diodes and Leds do have a their similarities but for the most part leds get more efficient and produce more photons with less energy consumption therefor useing same amount of current for more light. I'm not sure Laser diodes work the same so I actually don't know if lasers can ever get more powerful and use less energy your guess is as good as mine

If we're talking strictly laser diodes there are a bunch of limiting factors.

Heat dissipation, limitations of the optics forming the cavity and limitations of the gain medium would all be the biggest ones I can think of. Of course these limitations affect lasers other than diode lasers too. Heat is certainly a big killer.

This PDF covers some of the limitations of laser diodes such as heat and catastrophic optical damage of mirrors forming the laser cavity. Although it's fairly in depth.

http://www.ece.sunysb.edu/~oe/ESE519/lecture10.pdf

 

[joeyss]

Any future developments won't surprise me at all anymore, no matter how impressive they may be. Given enough time the sky is the limit.

Alan

Haha started watching Star Trek after disney killed Star Wars EU and The way ep 7 came out. Seen a few of those episodes in that clip. Funny thing was I hated star trek until I started watching it. I really like some of the TOS episodes and the 2 reboot movies and 4.

Where are there od 9+ laser googles at?

also they have welding googles in star trek 4 ( I love that movie)


Can't wait to use the Double Dumbass line on someone IRL hopefully when I tackle someone for shineing a green laser at a plane/car/ or person.

 

[Pi R Squared]

Haha started watching Star Trek after disney killed Star Wars EU and The way ep 7 came out. Seen a few of those episodes in that clip. Funny thing was I hated star trek until I started watching it. I really like some of the TOS episodes and the 2 reboot movies and 4.

Where are there od 9+ laser googles at?

also they have welding googles in star trek 4 ( I love that movie)


Can't wait to use the Double Dumbass line on someone IRL hopefully when I tackle someone for shineing a green laser at a plane/car/ or person.

:crackup: Was also one of the best time travel movies ever.

Alan