I purchased the 5 mW Laser, product number 1054, from Adafruit. I am using an Arduino Nano to drive a common emitter transistor with the Laser connected to the collector and then going to 5V supplied by the Arduino.
I have used an LED in this application and got good results. The LED seems to have better power stability. However, the Laser has a built-in current source as far as I can tell from the literature.
My big need is for the Laser to stabilize quickly and have the wavelength stability that Lasers are supposed to give in general. I could use the TTL switched Laser diode, product number 1056 which tops out at 50 kHz switching speed, but I figured I could drive it myself and save a lot of money.
Is there any information regarding the switching performance of the Laser diode module(s)?
Pulsed 5 mW Laser stability
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- adafruit2
- Posts: 22148
- Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:36 pm
Re: Pulsed 5 mW Laser stability
yeah, what you're doing is not a good idea...the power supply may need time to stabilize, so turning the whole on & off wont give consistant results
that's what the TTL control laser is for :)
that's what the TTL control laser is for :)
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.