He-Ne Laser, Uniphase 098-1

[Linda aka MethelinaPills]

Here is a little story XD

Once I has an idea to make a gas-laser. Its an expensive and a rare way... cuz the most common way just buy a CO2 laser... And this is not a my way to do things so i choosed a long wayb but creative one 

The laser tube was found:


So, the PSU prepeared with a proper (average  ) parametres. From a old USSR laser LG-78 (Stolen from the somewhere,  )


I made a little tune of it...
The scheme is pretty simple:


And I have made a DIY HV-wiring from a common wire, heat shrink tube and a medical PVC-tubing for additional protection. I took the terminals from the charger for lead batteries:


And Voila! 

Video:

[Mads Barnkob]

Welcome to HVF and cool laser project!

I know too little about lasers, so where is the output of this tube? There must have been a unfocused output in one of the ends or how does that?

[Linda aka MethelinaPills]

Welcome to HVF and cool laser project!

I know too little about lasers, so where is the output of this tube?..

Yay!Thx a lot! There is a HR (high reflectivity) and OC (output coupler) mirrors at the tips of the tube:

Not in the vry good condition with chips and so on, but the focal zone is fine so the lasing is possble
The diagram of  the same class tube:


There is a spot on the paper as output:

There must have been a unfocused output in one of the ends or how does that?

Focusing and lenses are more about SSD lasers, that popular now as laser pointers and gravers. Gas lasers, such as my helium-neon (HeNe) laser, do not require lenses for focusing because they use a gas medium to generate the laser beam. The gas molecules are excited by an electrical discharge, causing them to emit light. This emission occurs throughout the gas medium, resulting in a naturally collimated or focused beam.

On the other hand, solid-state diode lasers use a diode as the active medium, typically made of semiconductor materials like gallium arsenide or indium gallium arsenide. These diodes emit light from a small area called the active region. However, the emitted light from diode lasers has a relatively wide divergence angle, meaning the beam spreads out quickly as it propagates. As a result, lenses are required to focus and collimate the beam to achieve a more concentrated and parallel output.

[NyaaX_X]

For a handmade LASER , I was tring to make a T.E.A. nitrogen LASER . But it didn't work then . I believe it must apply some nice accurate parts to create the craft. Les' Lab on youtube had made some beautiful examples and he probably in this forum

Nice Light

[Linda aka MethelinaPills]

For a handmade LASER , I was tring to make a T.E.A. nitrogen LASER . But it didn't work then . I believe it must apply some nice accurate parts to create the craft. Les' Lab on youtube had made some beautiful examples and he probably in this forum

Nice Light

Yes, indeed! For the TEA laser, the rails of the spark zone of the running discharge must be absolutely smooth and perfectly aligned.
Yay, im old term subscriber of the LesLab XD

[Linda aka MethelinaPills]

Welcome to HVF and cool laser project!

Awe! Thank you mate! XD hope i will be a good addition
Btw the greeting application

[alan sailer]

A far as Les's nitrogen laser it's not in need of super precise machining. I used a table saw to make the electrodes, carbide saw blade and aluminum
bar stock.

The adjustment can be a bit frustrating. And if you go for nitrogen gas rather than air the gain of the laser channel is much higher making it even easier.

The old school design (not using the dumping capacitor) is even easier but since the mylar dielectric is always under HV stress the thing will fail more often...

Cheers.