Natural Science Forum / Physics / Optics / June 2007

I have a ~30mW 488nm argon (Lasos GmbH) tube w/ homemade PSU. 10 Amps
will push the tube heatsink to 190 degrees F. Is heat the only
limiting factor? A larger CFM blower (I'm running 220 CFM now) will
cool the tube better I'm assuming, so I could push more current for

I just would like to comment on an advertisement.  Biophotonics ran an
ad for MediaCybernetics AutoQuantX deconvolution process.  I commend
MediaCybernetics for their efforts to mainstream the application of
deconvolution and blind deconvolution.  These methods have proved

Hi, I finally got around to putting this up on my website... I wrote
this program about 7 years ago. Since then some better programs have
been written by other hobbyists. There are plenty of home made XY
scanner projects in progress (some are really impressive) but I

I have just disassembled a buttload of cdroms and I keep finding this one type
"lens". Usually  when I shine a laser through it it shows a series of dots like
. . . .
One gave me a room full of dots in a matrix, a line the dotted line but it was a

How does the diffracted image look like on a echelon grating which is
pictured here [from a museum] made from many optical plates placed
like a ladder.
http://museum-eng.eng.niigata-u.ac.jp/physics/2/echelon-grating.jpg

For those who don't want to read the detailed version below, my basic
question is how to specify the radiance of a multimode VCSEL (modeled
as a point source with a Gaussian angular profile with a 1/e^2 full
width of 13 degrees) in Watts-per-steradian if the L-I curve on a data

There have been a few threads on this subject, but I would like to get
the opinion from this newsgroup on a specific question.
For 1.55 microns, what is the lowest connection loss that I can get by
fusion-splicing two PM single-mode fibers?  I have seen results

I went out for dinner at a little outdoor resteraunt downtown, while I
was using my new hearing aid.  The hearing aid is really just an in-
the-ear mini amplifyer that internalizes the sound  inside of your ear
canal.  I've been picking up extremely powerful psychic signals using

Please be known ,I am writing my new lens design , lens manufacturing
ideas herebelow and they are copyrighted worldwide. No one can grant
patent from these ideas.
I researched anamorphic cinema camera lenses at internet and i

ive got a 60w solid state pumped ND:YAG, and im trying to get
stainless steel and aluminium as blask as possible, but keeping a good
quality. ive got a nice grey colour on the steel, but there are dots
at the top of each letter etc. Anyone got any experience with this

I have an older single-line 50mw argon laser that I recently acquired,
and I've noticed that there is this violet-purple glow around the
beam.  I can see it if I hold up my hand or a piece of paper right
next to (but not in, then it's too bright to see) the beam.  I can

Does anyone have any info on the head to PS connection cable. I have
just bought a head and PS. There is no ps to head connection cable. I
need to know what the Amphenol plug # is and what gauge wire to use if
I have to make it. If anyone has one laying around I would be

I'm new to this forum, so if anything I ask has been answered before,
I would be happy to learn how to find the answer...
I have just gotten a, I think, very beautiful Olympus PMG
metallograph. It's from the 1960's I believe. I am in the very

Do OEM laser component manufacturers have to be registered with the US
CDRH to sell laser components in the US?
Is it still the case that there are essentially no requirements for
*users* of lasers?  For ex., one can obtain an OEM or end user laser,