LaserLight SMD by SLD Laser

BlueSwordM · 2019-07-02T15:41:48.000Z

See, the problem with most laser pointers is that the heat dissapation design is absolute crap.

Not only is the thermal design of the pointers themselves bad, but the way laser diodes are manufactured, thermal resistance is quite high.

I still wonder why laser manufacturers haven’t standardized themselves on a standard 3030/3535 footprint.

I guess the reason for not doing this is not to make it easy for the public to acquire stupid powerful lasers.

Agro · 2019-07-02T07:53:24.000Z

BlueSwordM, I’d love to see you elaborating more about it…

BlueSwordM:

See, the problem with most laser pointers is that the heat dissapation design is absolute crap.

Not only is the thermal design of the pointers themselves bad, but the way laser diodes are manufacturer, thermal resistance is extremely high.

I still wonder why laser manufacturers haven’t standardized themselves on a standard 3030/3535 footprint.

I guess the reason for not doing this is not to make it easy for the public to acquire stupid powerful lasers.

Could you please clarify whether you think that the one I linked (Sanwu) is among the crap ones? It seemed well regarded…And so I assumed it was one of the best ones. And therefore used it as a sizing gauge. Actually…the size is not far from from my expectations.

Could you please also tell more about the design problems that you mention?

djozz · 2019-07-02T08:01:55.000Z

The one you showed above looks like a showpiece to me. Lots of material everywhere so heatsinking should be good anyway but I can imagine that more careful designing it will result in a body much more lightweight with just as good heat shedding.

Maybe the laser guys are less into continuous use than we, and short bursts can be solved by heatsink mass, while real heatshedding while keeping the laser unit under 50 degrees is a huge challenge?

But what do I know of lasers? :party:

Scallywag · 2019-07-02T15:27:58.000Z

I've kind of avoided taking the dive into lasers because I have this nagging feeling I'd either burn down my house, go blind, or both.

BlueSwordM · 2019-07-02T15:55:44.000Z

@Djozz and Agro, I would advise you to see how a laser light is usually built by looking at styropyro’s video:

Most laser lights don’t use thermal paste to aid in heat transfer, there are no direct thermal paths for the lasers diodes to dissipate the heat effectively, most laser modules are press fit into the casings with no solder or thermal paste to aid in thermal transfer. Finally, most laser heatsinks aren’t directly connected to the hosts.

That means while the light itself doesn’t get very hot, the laser diode does.

How do I know this?

Well, I have friends that really like high power lasers, and since they know I’m quite knowledgeable about lights, they came to me when they had problems with them.

Anyway, I opened up many laser lights, even custom ones, and man, I was so disappointing with the crappy heat paths that the lights provided, and worse, how the laser diodes themselves are heatsinked.

Even something like a Convoy C8 is built way better in terms of thermal path vs most diode laser lights.
And the thermal design of SMD 3535-5050-7070 LEDs with thermal pads are leagues ahead of almost all diode lasers.

TLDR: Our lights, and LEDs+MCPCBs, are very well designed to get the heat away from the LED as quickly as possible.
Laser diode lights and the diodes themselves, on the other hand, are designed pretty badly in terms of getting the heat away from the laser diode, meaning laser diode lifespan is much lower than conventional LEDs.

BlueSwordM · 2019-07-02T15:57:55.000Z

I’d really love seeing a powerful diode laser that could fit standard 3535 DTP MCPCBs.

We’d see what kind of real potential power we could get from lasers.

Agro · 2019-07-02T19:36:15.000Z

Thanks BlueSwordM. That host on the video is really bad…

Lothar · 2020-02-12T14:19:20.000Z

Any update on this?

~~What does the luminance of 1000Mcd/m^2 mean and how does that compare to kcd readings we use for flashlights?~~
So with CULNM1.TG coming close to 350cd/mm^2 without a collar, is it safe to assume that this LaserLight SMD would have close to 3x the luminance of a bare CULNM1.TG, and 1.5x the luminance of a CULNM1.TG with RLT collar?

Here is an article stating they’ve already managed 1000 lumens from the same SMD, equating to 1530 Mcd/m^2.

Agro · 2020-02-12T14:25:21.000Z

Lothar:

Any update on this?

~~What does the luminance of 1000Mcd/m^2 mean and how does that compare to kcd readings we use for flashlights?~~
So with CULNM1.TG coming close to 350cd/mm^2 without a collar, is it safe to assume that this LaserLight SMD would have close to 3x the luminance of a bare CULNM1.TG, and 1.5x the luminance of a CULNM1.TG with RLT collar?

It certainly looks so.

djozz · 2020-02-12T14:26:04.000Z

It seems so, if this ever becomes affordable, the future of flashoholics looks bright once more.

grin · 2020-02-12T21:56:29.000Z

Think I might have to get one

Lothar · 2020-03-11T10:58:38.000Z

Has anyone been able to contact either Lasercomponents or LaserLight? I’ve tried all the email addresses I could find, but no-one is responding.

djozz · 2020-03-11T11:05:04.000Z

Lothar:

Has anyone been able to contact either Lasercomponents or LaserLight? I’ve tried all the email addresses I could find, but no-one is responding.

I had a reply from Lasercomponents recently, no way that they are selling to individuals. Last year I asked directly to SLD lasers and I could buy a sample for 250 dollar if I signed a non-disclosure agreement, which is rather pointless to me as a BLF member who likes to share my findings over here.

Lothar · 2020-03-11T11:41:14.000Z

So what do we flashaholics have to do if we want to get a LEP SMD for our extreme thrower projects?

Isn’t there someone here on the forum that wants to use their knowledge and connections to do a group buy

djozz · 2020-03-11T11:50:00.000Z

It does not sound like a group buy would be feasible in the light of the answer that I got (I think it is alright if I make it public since there is not any specific content in his reply) :

Dear Mr. *,

Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in our products.
First, we do soll exclusively to companies.
Second, the price per piece is 250,- Euro and so preferred for industrial use.

Best regards,
Stephan Krauß
Produktingenieur
Geschäftsbereich Optosysteme
LASER COMPONENTS GmbH

But maybe you are lucky in a direct inquiry at SLD Lasers

Theodore41 · 2020-03-11T12:51:30.000Z

I have a 5W Sanwu blue laser and it is very good.

Lothar · 2020-03-11T12:54:40.000Z

I’ll keep an eye on this development: Acebeam W40 and W50

SlaytheIncubus · 2020-04-25T01:06:37.000Z

2 of them for $620 or 4 of them for $1,000. No NDA. No restrictions. You own it. Plus the electronics to drive it. Anybody interested???

grin · 2020-04-25T02:53:52.000Z

I would be interested in 1 perhaps 2

djozz · 2020-04-25T11:47:34.000Z

Cool, but too much money for my budget. Where do you source them?