RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: (Lasers)

I haven't seen the entire thread, but as far as I know, solid state lasers
are most easily damaged by thermal means and optically. I designed quite a
few power supplies for the LDs when they first came out and short duration
current peaks that produced light above the maximum allowable for a specific
device frequently resulted in optical damage to the laser itself. This was
the answer given by several manufacturers about lasers returned to them for
failure analysis. We (the company I was working for) worked closely with
the manufacturers for quite a while establishing allowable optical and
current overshoot specifications. As for ESD, lasers are like any other
semiconductor.

Ward M.

wardmerk@... <mailto:wardmerk@...>



-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Elson [mailto:jmelson@...]
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 8:56 PM
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: (Lasers)




dave engvall wrote:

> Jon,
> Maybe you believe the spec sheets and don't try
> and push the last tenth of a mw out of it.

Well, I think this was about the fragile nature of diode lasers.
Yes, like many other semiconductor devices, they are susceptible
to overcurrent and overvoltage, ie. static discharge. But, it seems
they are no more susceptible to this sort of damage than any other
semiconductor device I use.

A lot of people are bandying about that if you even open the package
and peek inside without thousands of dollars of static protection gear,
the laser will be fried! Clearly not true. Now, some guys would just
hook a couple D cells to it with no current limit, and they'd fry it, of
course. But properly following reasonable design rules seems to make
them work reliably.

Jon


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