What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Alfons, Fri May 26 2006, 06:13PMHi,
I've got a bunch of CD-ROM drives and CD Writers lying around; and I want to do something with them. Does anyone know of a cool thing to do with their lasers / motors / anything else?
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Madgyver, Fri May 26 2006, 06:30PM
Well you can use the laser in speed measurement equipment, if you can fabric a housing which is eye safe.
The lasers can also be used as interferomters and long range IR remote controll tranceivers
Madgyver, Fri May 26 2006, 06:30PM
Well you can use the laser in speed measurement equipment, if you can fabric a housing which is eye safe.
The lasers can also be used as interferomters and long range IR remote controll tranceivers
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Alfons, Fri May 26 2006, 06:38PM
Sounds interesting... But how to drive such a laser? It has like 10 or so connectors and I can't seem to find any useful information on the web...
Alfons, Fri May 26 2006, 06:38PM
Madgyver wrote ...
Well you can use the laser in speed measurement equipment, if you can fabric a housing which is eye safe.
The lasers can also be used as interferomters and long range IR remote controll tranceivers
Well you can use the laser in speed measurement equipment, if you can fabric a housing which is eye safe.
The lasers can also be used as interferomters and long range IR remote controll tranceivers
Sounds interesting... But how to drive such a laser? It has like 10 or so connectors and I can't seem to find any useful information on the web...
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Madgyver, Fri May 26 2006, 06:42PM
For specific questions about how to safely drive these lasers, dig throught this extensive FAQ
Madgyver, Fri May 26 2006, 06:42PM
For specific questions about how to safely drive these lasers, dig throught this extensive FAQ
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Eric, Fri May 26 2006, 08:10PM
The laser diode itself only has three pins but it is buried inside the assembly which includes the actuator coils and possibly photodiode(s). You have to dig the diode out and then figure out which pin does what and then drive it with the proper current. Without ruining it. Kinda hard to do. If you don't have a spec sheet, you can't reliably drive it since you don't know the right operating current. I suppose you could power the drive and then measure the diode drive current that it supplies directly..
Eric, Fri May 26 2006, 08:10PM
The laser diode itself only has three pins but it is buried inside the assembly which includes the actuator coils and possibly photodiode(s). You have to dig the diode out and then figure out which pin does what and then drive it with the proper current. Without ruining it. Kinda hard to do. If you don't have a spec sheet, you can't reliably drive it since you don't know the right operating current. I suppose you could power the drive and then measure the diode drive current that it supplies directly..
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Marko, Fri May 26 2006, 08:21PM
I got some of these diodes running and found them almost uselles - they have very weak near-IR output, very poor in power (definitely weaker than common laser pointers).
You will actually have trouble to see if diode is working or not.
CD writer diodes may be stronger but not for much, you may get some kind of few mw near-IR laser pointer again.
Marko, Fri May 26 2006, 08:21PM
I got some of these diodes running and found them almost uselles - they have very weak near-IR output, very poor in power (definitely weaker than common laser pointers).
You will actually have trouble to see if diode is working or not.
CD writer diodes may be stronger but not for much, you may get some kind of few mw near-IR laser pointer again.
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Madgyver, Sat May 27 2006, 10:24AM
Well weak is relative, weaker as laserpointer is still stronger then your common IR-LED. Having the whole thing assembled in a high precision interferometer capable of detecting lengths in the µm's isn't that bad either.
Besides you can have a little bit of fun with the amplifier board if your CD-ROMS still have them.
(look a the few blurry pictures, I might geht around translating this weekend)
Madgyver, Sat May 27 2006, 10:24AM
Well weak is relative, weaker as laserpointer is still stronger then your common IR-LED. Having the whole thing assembled in a high precision interferometer capable of detecting lengths in the µm's isn't that bad either.
Besides you can have a little bit of fun with the amplifier board if your CD-ROMS still have them.
(look a the few blurry pictures, I might geht around translating this weekend)Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
G^3, Sat May 27 2006, 03:24PM
My physics teacher used these type of laser diodes to trap Rubidium atoms. Now in order to do this you need a lot of fancy optical equipment that I don't know where to get or how to use.
G^3, Sat May 27 2006, 03:24PM
My physics teacher used these type of laser diodes to trap Rubidium atoms. Now in order to do this you need a lot of fancy optical equipment that I don't know where to get or how to use.
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
..., Mon May 29 2006, 03:00AM
The output looks very week because it is in the near-ir, the eye is only like 1/100th as sensitive to it compared to a red laser. If you have ever opened up a dvd-rom you can see how bright it would be if it were a more visible wavelength.
As to uses... Since you have the collimator assembly you can use it just like you would a laser pointer, but the beam is invisible. On the old forum someone used one to make a security system... A normal photo diode will work fine for detecting the beam.
As to driving them... If you can find a separate metal can on the optics assembly that is the laser... One of the pins will be connected to the case of the laser. This is the +. Of the 2 other pins, one is the laser and the other is a photo diode connected to the laser. The way to check is to apply power, one will have a relatively linear current draw/ voltage, one will register very little then suddenly increase. This is the laser. Be careful, as if you give it too much current it will blow instantly. From this point on you need to measure the laser diode current very carefully. If you just want to use it you would run about 50ma into the diode, as long as the laser does not get to hot you should be fine. If you are feeling adventurous you can hook a volt meter from the third pin to ground, which will give an idea idea of the output power. As you turn of the laser power you should observe that the meter reading increases... Slowly turn up the power until the reading levels off, then turn it down a little--this is the current operating current for the laser. Never run more than that amount of current through the diode. The voltage required to run at the current will vary depending on the temperature of the diode, you need to use a current source to run the diode.
Oh, and don't look into it
..., Mon May 29 2006, 03:00AM
The output looks very week because it is in the near-ir, the eye is only like 1/100th as sensitive to it compared to a red laser. If you have ever opened up a dvd-rom you can see how bright it would be if it were a more visible wavelength.
As to uses... Since you have the collimator assembly you can use it just like you would a laser pointer, but the beam is invisible. On the old forum someone used one to make a security system... A normal photo diode will work fine for detecting the beam.
As to driving them... If you can find a separate metal can on the optics assembly that is the laser... One of the pins will be connected to the case of the laser. This is the +. Of the 2 other pins, one is the laser and the other is a photo diode connected to the laser. The way to check is to apply power, one will have a relatively linear current draw/ voltage, one will register very little then suddenly increase. This is the laser. Be careful, as if you give it too much current it will blow instantly. From this point on you need to measure the laser diode current very carefully. If you just want to use it you would run about 50ma into the diode, as long as the laser does not get to hot you should be fine. If you are feeling adventurous you can hook a volt meter from the third pin to ground, which will give an idea idea of the output power. As you turn of the laser power you should observe that the meter reading increases... Slowly turn up the power until the reading levels off, then turn it down a little--this is the current operating current for the laser. Never run more than that amount of current through the diode. The voltage required to run at the current will vary depending on the temperature of the diode, you need to use a current source to run the diode.
Oh, and don't look into it
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Carbon_Rod, Mon May 29 2006, 06:27AM
This old Alpine 1106nm CDROM IR diode is very bright indeed when viewed with a CCD camera (complete with driver module board.)
Carbon_Rod, Mon May 29 2006, 06:27AM
This old Alpine 1106nm CDROM IR diode is very bright indeed when viewed with a CCD camera (complete with driver module board.)
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Alfons, Tue Jul 11 2006, 06:51PM
Hi;
digging up an old thread... but I recently heard that some CD-R (CD-writer) drives contain < 100mW lasers; which could be of some use!
I searched Sams Laser FAQ, but didn't seem to find any useful info about CD-R-lasers...
Does anyone know if my information is correct / if the lasers could be useful?
Alfons, Tue Jul 11 2006, 06:51PM
Hi;
digging up an old thread... but I recently heard that some CD-R (CD-writer) drives contain < 100mW lasers; which could be of some use!
I searched Sams Laser FAQ, but didn't seem to find any useful info about CD-R-lasers...
Does anyone know if my information is correct / if the lasers could be useful?
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Bjørn, Tue Jul 11 2006, 08:30PM
I have seen 140mW lasers being sold by manufacturers for 48X drives. If you look at the speed the plate is moving you know the power must be significant. 7200 rpm makes for about 42 m/s.
Bjørn, Tue Jul 11 2006, 08:30PM
I have seen 140mW lasers being sold by manufacturers for 48X drives. If you look at the speed the plate is moving you know the power must be significant. 7200 rpm makes for about 42 m/s.
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Wolfram, Tue Jul 11 2006, 10:17PM
DVD uses red laser, so DVD burners use powerful red lasers, quite interesting. Take a look at this page:
Wolfram, Tue Jul 11 2006, 10:17PM
DVD uses red laser, so DVD burners use powerful red lasers, quite interesting. Take a look at this page:
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Marko, Tue Jul 11 2006, 10:40PM
Looks nice, I wonder if it could burn a black tape or bag
Is there actually difference between CD and DVD burner diodes?
Marko, Tue Jul 11 2006, 10:40PM
Looks nice, I wonder if it could burn a black tape or bag
Is there actually difference between CD and DVD burner diodes?
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
..., Wed Jul 12 2006, 04:35AM
The dvd burner diodes are of course red instead of IR. I am not sure how the power compares, I would assume (for the same speed drive) they are similar.
Just remember that if you want to go out and buy a dvd-r to salvage the laser that the speed of the drive it pretty much directly proportional to the laser power. The 1x video recorders have very week diodes, while the super fast dvd drives have 100mw ones...
..., Wed Jul 12 2006, 04:35AM
The dvd burner diodes are of course red instead of IR. I am not sure how the power compares, I would assume (for the same speed drive) they are similar.
Just remember that if you want to go out and buy a dvd-r to salvage the laser that the speed of the drive it pretty much directly proportional to the laser power. The 1x video recorders have very week diodes, while the super fast dvd drives have 100mw ones...
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Alfons, Wed Jul 12 2006, 09:13AM
Hmm nice!
I just opened up an old cd-r drive, and the laser worked perfectly (just to test it, I ran it on two batteries and a small resistor) untill a couple of seconds ago... I guess I applied too much voltage / current or something.
I'm definitely going to look for a DVD-(R-)drive for more laser fun!
Alfons, Wed Jul 12 2006, 09:13AM
Hmm nice!
I just opened up an old cd-r drive, and the laser worked perfectly (just to test it, I ran it on two batteries and a small resistor) untill a couple of seconds ago... I guess I applied too much voltage / current or something.
I'm definitely going to look for a DVD-(R-)drive for more laser fun!
Re: What to do with CD-ROM drive laser
Avalanche, Wed Jul 12 2006, 02:02PM
I have an old DVD recorder with TV tuner built in. It's in a right tatty state and has had the power cord cut off - so I might as well pull it to bits for the diode. It's only a single speed though by the looks of it, so probably not much use.
Avalanche, Wed Jul 12 2006, 02:02PM
I have an old DVD recorder with TV tuner built in. It's in a right tatty state and has had the power cord cut off - so I might as well pull it to bits for the diode. It's only a single speed though by the looks of it, so probably not much use.
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