HANDHELD ~413nm BLU-RAY (VIOLET-EMITTING) LASER
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Somebody set up us the bomb.
Handheld ~413nm Blu-ray (Violet-Emitting) Laser, retail ~$125.00
Manufactured by: (Unknown)
Last updated 10-26-13
(In reference to the padded envelope I received from L.P. at 5:29pm PDT on 04-11-09):
{sung like the Foreigner song "Feels Like the First Time"}
The Handheld Blu-ray Laser is only the third commercial application of the much vaunted Blu-ray diode laser in a pointing device; this was the first, introduced in mid-2007 - and this was the second, introduced in early-2009.
It is advertised to output 125mW of laser radiation at ~405nm. It actually measures a whopping 334mW at 412.85nm!!!
It comes in a handsome brass body with a black finish and gold colored bezel, tailcap, pocket clip, and band just in front of its grey rubbery pushbutton switch.
SIZE
To get the laser to turn on, first be certain that there are a pair of AAA cells installed. If there isn't, then install them (see directly below), and THEN you can go irradiate something.
Aim the laser well-away from your face first. Press & hold down the button on the barrel for as long as you want or need the laser spot, and release pressure on the button to turn the laser back off.
To change the batteries in this high-powered violet laser , unscrew and remove the tailcap, throw it into the dustbin (garbage can), dump the dustbin into the outdoor wheelie bin (wheeled garbage can), and wait patiently for garbage day so that the dustman (garbage man) empties the wheelie bin into his dust lorry (garbage truck)...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.
Tip the two used AAA cells out of the barrel and into your hand, and dispose of, recycle, or recharge them as you see fit.
Insert two new AAA cells into the barrel, flat-end (-) negative first. This is the opposite of how batteries are installed in most flashlights, so please pay attention to polarity here.
Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad that you didn't huck that tailcap into the dustbin (garbage can) now?
Current usage measures 231.30mA on my DMM's 400mA scale.
This is a self-contained laser , and not a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused - so I won't try to drown it in the toliet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my mother's big dog's ghost or my sister's kitty cats spring a leak (uranate) on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a medium ball peen hammer in order to bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata, drop it down the top of Mt. Erupto (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central {aka. "Party Central"}), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island, and Mt. Erupto is an active volcano on Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.
This is a directly-injected laser though, who's active components are the inverter circuit, the laser diode, and the collimating lens. So it should withstand accidents better than a DPSS (diode pumped solid state) laser - the type of laser assembly found in yellow (593.5nm), green (532nm) and blue (473nm) laser pointers. These lasers have several additional components (crystals, filters, etc.) in the optical train, and you can knock them out of alignment by doing little more than looking at them the wrong way. And if any of these components are knocked out of whack, you'll no longer get your yellow, green, or blue laser beam.
Though you still do not want to intentionally drop your blue laser because it's a precision optical instrument.
***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!***
This laser has a fair amount of {vulgar term for testicles} to it (measured at 299.430mW!), so you ***DEFINITELY*** do not want to shine it into your eyes, other people's eyes, pets' eyes, for that matter, the eyes of any person or animal you encounter. Eye damage can occur faster than the blink reflex can protect them, regardless of what species' eyes you irradiate with this laser. So just don't do it.
And for Christ sakes (and for heaven sakes and for Pete sakes and for your sakes too) do not shine this laser at any vehicle, whether ground-based like a motorcycle, car, or truck, or air-based like a helicopter, airplane, or jet. And if you shoot it at a person in the dark and he turns out to be a police officer, he may think he's being targeted, unholster (pull out) his gun, and hose you down with it.
I know I just said this, but it bears repeating: You shine it in your eyes, not even when the unit's batteries have pooped out and it is below lasing threshold You will have bright, long-lasting (several days!!!) afterimages if you do!!! The human eye was not designed for wavelengths much below 420nm in the blue-violet region of the spectrum.
I performed "The Finger Test" - that is, I irradiated the end of my right-hand index finger (forefinger) with this laser, and felt a strong stinging sensation within approximately 900ms (0.90 second).
Duty cycle recommendation is 50%: 30 seconds on, and 30 seconds off to allow for cooling.
Beam photograph of this unique laser on the test target at 12".
Beam image bloomed ***SIGNIFICANTLY***.
That white & blue color does not really exist; the spot appears to be a very deep royal purple to the eye.
Digital cameras have a tough time at these wavelengths.
And yes, I know that the colors purple and violet are two different critters, but the phrase "royal violet" would not make very much sense; however, most everybody knows what "royal purple" looks like.
Purple is a mixture of red & blue; violet is a spectral color, encompassing wavelengths of ~390nm to ~410nm.
Measures an incredible 288.81mW (!) on a laser power meter specifically designed for this purpose; using the AAA cells that were furnished.
Measures 299.430mW using known-new AAA cells.
One of the included AAA cells tested 60% capacity, the other 80% capacity.
Both were tested on a ZTS Pulse Load Multi-Battery Tester.
Tops out at 214mW using Energizer lithium (L91) AAA cells of somewhat unknown but heavy prior usage.
Beam photograph on a wall at ~10'.
Again, that white & blue color does not really exist.
Those colored graphics toward the left are my "Viva Piņata" posters, and that clock on the right that looks like a gigantic wristwatch is my Infinity Optics Clock.
You may also be able to see one of my SpongeBob SquarePants plush (Squidward Tentacles) and a Digimon plush (Greymon). Normally, a Patrick Star plush (from SpongeBob) would be hanging next to Squidward, but he was down here at the spectrometer for a test of his own.
Beam photograph (in near-total darkness this time) on a wall at ~10'.
Beam photograph (in near-total darkness again) on a wall at ~10'.
Taken with a different camera - an Olympus Brio D100.
Photograph in near-total darkness showing the beam. ***NO SMOKE*** was used!
This is a nonsmoking household; so the responsible particulates must be remnants from cooking.
Taken with the Olympus camera.
All but the previous two photographs on this web page were taken with a Canon PowerShot G3.
Beam in fog.
Taken indoors through a window (that's why there appears to be a dim secondary beam) at 10:10pm PST on 12-01-10 (or "01 Dec. 2010" if you prefer).
Another photograph of the laser's actual beam taken outdoors.
Photo was taken at 6:55am PST on 01-18-13.
Another photograph of the laser's actual beam taken outdoors in fairly dense fog.
Photo was taken at 4:57am PDT on 10-24-13.
Photograph of the word "Glow" "written" on the glow paper furnished with this laser.
Power output peaks at 319mW.
Power output peaks at 334mW with known-new AAA cells.
Spectrographic analysis of the Blu-ray laser diode in this product.
Wavelength appears to be ~410nm, which is within specification for the type of laser diode used in this laser.
Same as above; but spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 410nm and 420nm.
This shows that the wavelength is in fact 412.85nm.
Spectrographic analysis of the Blu-ray laser diode in this product.
As before, wavelength appears to be ~410nm, which is within specification for the type of laser diode used in this laser.
Same as above; but spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 411nm and 416nm to pinpoint wavelength, which is 413.566nm.
The raw spectrometer data (tab-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at http://www.tllm.site//44/412_85.txt
This shows that the laser's wavelength is in fact 413.570nm.
Video on YourTube showing the product irradiating & spinning the vanes of a Crooke's radiometer.
This clip is approximately 3.978 megabytes (4,004,374 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than ninteen minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
Video on YourTube showing the product burning a black meter test probe.
This clip is approximately 1.366 megabytes (1,429,108 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than seven minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
A Roscolux #91 "Primary Green" celluloid filter was used to help attenuate (dim) the laser spot in this video; if you look closely, you might able to see smoke pouring out of the part of the test probe that was irradiated.
I cannot provide either clip in other formats, so please do not ask.
TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased from L.P. of Candlepower Forums on 04-09-09, and was received at 5:29pm PDT on 04-11-09.
I have decided to rate this wonderful little laser five full stars ***RIGHT NOW*** and give it a place in this website's Trophy Case!!!
If something happens down the road, I can always derate it if necessary.
UPDATE: 04-26-09
Upon request, I performed some temperature studies of this studly little laser.
Using a clock with a second hand on it, I obtained the following:
Ambient temperature (also measured at the laser's "head") measured 74°F (23.3°C).
After two minutes (120 seconds) "on" time, measured on a clock with a second hand on it, temperature at the laser's "head" measured 88°F (31.1°C).
Power output at this point was measured at 231.40mW.
After several minutes of cool-down time, power was measured at 282.42mW.
No change to the beam was evident throughout the entire duration of this test; the positive (magnifying) lens furnished with the test unit was used so that beam changes would be readily visible had they occurred.
UPDATE: 12-26-09
The URL leading to this laser's creator's website is no longer any good, so it has been removed from this evaluation.
PROS:
Color is very radiant & unusual for a handheld laser
Extremely poweful for such a small unit
Uses inexpensive and readily available batteries
Color is very radiant an unu...o wait, I said that already!!!
CONS:
Just the usual suspects for laser modules/pointers - nothing that affects rating
MANUFACTURER: Unknown
PRODUCT TYPE: Violet-emitting laser
LAMP TYPE: Sony Blu-ray laser diode
No. OF LAMPS: 1
BEAM TYPE: Very narrow spot it's a laser, remember?
SWITCH TYPE: Momentary on/off button on barrel
CASE MATERIAL: Brass
BEZEL: Metal; laser & lens recessed into its end
BATTERY: 2x AAA cells
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 231.30mA
WATER- AND PEE-RESISTANT: Light splatter-resistant at maximum
SUBMERSIBLE: NADEVVO'!!! PATAT, 'OQQARMEY LO' HO' TEYWI' PUM VAJ UN-FLUSHED PUCHPA', GHOBE'!
ACCESSORIES: Lidded presentation/storage case
WARRANTY: 1 year
PRODUCT RATING:
Handheld ~413nm Blu-ray (Violet-Emitting) Laser *
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SIZE
Press & hold down the button on the barrel for as long as you want or need the laser spot, and release pressure on the button to turn the laser back off.
Eye damage can occur faster than the blink reflex can protect them, regardless of what species' eyes you irradiate with this laser. So just don't do it. 
