Why are all laser pens and pointers red and not any other color?
Louie: young guy, possibly a bit green, but smart as paint. - Greg Charles
Because the substances that produce red are easy and cheap. Actually, you can buy green laser pointers now, and the technology to make blue laser pointers exists. But they are more expensive.
Does it have anything to do with red having the shortest wavelength, or does it have the longest?
I haven’t covered light in physics yet.
There are also green hand-held laser pointers–I have two them.
They have a higher output and are considered to be more “dangerous” in that respect.
–Kalél
Common ¢ for all ages…
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
Sorry Nerd, didn’t read your post carefully enough to see that you covered green laser pointers.
hightechburrito: Red is the longest visible light wavelength.
–Kalél
Common ¢ for all ages…
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
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- EnigmaOne, what country are you posting from? In the US, the power limit for class IIIA devices is 5 mW, in any color you want.
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- A typical red laser is ~640-680 nm wavelength. The longer the wavelength, the easier/cheaper they are to make. There were semiconductor IR lasers available before there were semiconductor red (visible) lasers. There’s a firearm “daytime” laser that is suposed to be useable in shaded areas outdoors during daytime; it doesn’t have any more power, it just produces a shorter wavelength of light (kind of orange) that your eyes can see better- it is said to appear 10 times brighter than the red ones. The green semiconductor lasers are supposed to appear 30 times brighter than the red ones, but both are still the same power: your eyes are just more sensitive to the green light. A year or so back I had a catalog that had green semiconductor lasers for $250-$400 each, depending on the model and output. - MC
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The red lasers
670 nm - the old ones
650 nm - 3-5 times “brighter”
635 nm - 10 times “brighter”
were all straight diode lasers. Do the green ones use these red diodes to pump a dye, or are they new didodes that actually emit green? Either way, how’s their effective life (MTBF) compare?
Sure, I’m all for moderation – as long as it’s not excessive.
I heard there is a ruby stone in the red laser pointers. True?
Louie: young guy, possibly a bit green, but smart as paint. - Greg Charles
False Louie.
MC, these were a gift to me, and I believe they are 11 or 12 mW optical output. They are at the lab on campus, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
As the particular student that gave me these pointers was from overseas, I assume the pointers to be as well.
–Kalél
TheHungerSite.com
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
BTW: They get nice and hot when you use them constantly.
–Kalél
TheHungerSite.com
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”