Mankind has made the lion's share of inventions by observing natural processes and phenomena. But with the development of technology, developments began to appear based solely on theoretical research. This includes the laser apparatus, which during its existence has gained a lot of varieties and modifications. In the household, this device can be useful as an element of a range finder, a remote pointer, or part of a projector system. But how to make a home laser, without having at the same time production facilities and high-precision technologies? In fact, its basic structure is quite simple, although some components will have to be taken from the finished equipment.
The device and principle of operation of a homemade laser
It is traditionally believed that a ruby ββstone acts as a working element - a kind of laser light source. But in order to optimize and reduce the cost of design, even professional lasers are increasingly dispensing with this rod. More precisely, it is being replaced with alternative emitters, and not necessarily solid-state ones. In this case, you can use a solution with dyes. How to make this type of laser yourself? You will need a lamp that will illuminate the mixture, emitting a beam of small thickness of the order of 5 mm. The design will also include an optical system for adjusting and focusing the light flux.
But that is not all. The laser will be activated by the flash of the trigger. Its design will be formed by a combination of quartz glass elements , electrodes and a metal copper-steel base. The electrodes will need to be connected to the terminals of the capacitor, the capacitance of which should be about 15 ΞΌF with a charge potential of 3 kW. As the pressure drops to the required value, the capacitor will discharge and a laser flash will occur.
Device Base
The main element of a homemade laser is an amplifier tube. As already mentioned, quartz glass with a diameter of up to 5 mm will be used in this quality. At the ends of the tube, it is necessary to provide covers with flat windows - also made of quartz. The device is placed between two mirrors, forming the center of the optical system. Now another question - how to make a laser organically supplemented by a trigger? For it, another quartz tube is used, which should be placed parallel to the first. Both cylinders must be installed in a reflective elliptical mirror.
Reflecting from an elliptical mirror, the trigger flash will provide beam concentration on the amplification tube. In order for this circuit to work, it is important to correctly place the amplifier with the trigger in the foci of the reflector. It is recommended to use mirrors coated with aluminum or silver. Their diameter should be approximately 10 mm. In the process of radiation, one of the mirrors will provide full reflection of the light, and the second - a little more than half the flux. The segment of the beam that will pass through the second mirror will form a laser beam.
Reflector device
The reflector function is performed by a thin-walled aluminum tube with a diameter of 2.5 and a length of 8 cm. It is important that its internal surfaces are carefully sanded. Further, already as a blank element, the tube must be carefully deformed so that its cross section takes the form of an ellipse. How to make a laser with your own hands with such a reflector? You can correct the shape in a vice, and it is recommended to fix the reflector with a small metal clamp. The major axis of the part should be parallel to the plane of the base. In the future, the trigger and amplifier will be integrated into the focal points of the ellipse with a gap of approximately 12 mm. Moreover, the axis of the tubes must exactly match the foci of the aluminum reflector. It is necessary to calculate in advance the capabilities of the device cells or grooves for fixing flat mirrors, as well as their adjustment. To provide the ability to adjust the angle of contact of the mirror with the beam, it will be useful to provide for installation hardware with springs.
Device mirrors
Translucent mirrors are directed covered surface facing the first quartz amplifier tube. The problem can arise only in the manufacture of mirror elements with the desired characteristics. How to make a laser at home based on a silver-plated mirror? Initially, a glass plate is taken, the surface of which is thoroughly degreased. One side of the product is covered with nitro paint, after which the silvering reaction is carried out. And at this stage it is important to take into account one caveat. Traditional silvering leads to the fact that the surface is completely covered with a tinted layer. In this case, this should be avoided, since the mirror should be translucent. The degree of coating is determined by the delay time of the workpiece in the prepared reaction solution of silver. As a rule, the optimal interval is derived experimentally, since much will depend on the individual factors of the process.
Dyes for laser
The device can use several dyes, but for the first time when creating the simplest design, you can limit yourself to rhodamine. This is an orange paint that will cover the spectrum from yellow-green to red. Methyl alcohol will help to prepare a rhodamine solution. Approximately 45 mg of rhodamine is diluted with it in a small container. How to make a laser with other shades of the beam? According to the same scheme, a suitable mixture is prepared by diluting the dyes with methyl alcohol. For example, a blue ray is obtained from diethylaminomethyl coumarin, and sodium fluorescein gives a poisonous salad color. The finished dye solution must flow through the amplifier tube at a speed of at least 4 l / h.
Setting up and preparing the laser for work
After the laser is ready, you must configure it. Actually, only one parameter is adjustable - the angle between the mirrors and the tube. For the apparatus to work, the reflection plane must be oriented perpendicular to the amplifier and parallel to the mirror in the opposite focus cell. You should also take care of the power of the device. How to make the laser so that it works as long as possible in standalone mode? To do this, mount a special unit with a trigger feed element. The system will work through a capacitor and wiring with a minimum level of resistance. As practice shows, the best option for the power supply line is a bus with copper conductors with a cross section of 10x1 mm.
How to make a powerful laser?
High-performance laser devices up to 300 mW can even be made on the basis of a conventional drive. It will require 100 mF and 100 pF capacitors, LED lamps, resistors and a direct DVD-RW drive, the recording speed of which is at least 16x. AAA batteries will be responsible for the power. How to make a laser from a drive? All working equipment will be based on the driver - an electrical circuit board, to which components will need to be soldered. A special diode must be used as a laser source, but it cannot be directly connected to the power supply system. Such diodes are powered by current, not voltage. A collimator is also included in the system. This is a kind of optical module that will perform the function of a thin-beam converter.
Conclusion
For all the benefits of laser devices, they should only be used when absolutely necessary, since they are unsafe in technical and electrochemical terms. How to make a laser with the safest possible working base? Actually, the described method for manufacturing a dye apparatus is the least dangerous from the point of view of harmful radiation due to low power. But in this case, you can increase its security by integrating additional protective filters. At a minimum, this solution will protect the eyes of the user and those who will be in the application area of ββthe device.