Affordable Ring/Coherent Laser

Julian · Post by **Julian** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:26 am

Dear All,
I am sorry to ask this question, as i am sure you have ben asked this question a thousand times. I used to make holograms back in the late 70's and early eighties, I owned a polarized NEC 25mw He-Ne laser that had a coherence length of about 18". I will soon be in a position to buy a new setup. I would like a laser with 100+ mw of power in the green or red spectrum ideally with a coherence length of maybe a metre or more, can you recommend one. I hear that "Coherent Lasers" are very good. My budget is about $/£1000 -$/£1500.
many thanks
Julian

Joe Farina · Post by **Joe Farina** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:01 pm

About $1,500 (US) should be just enough to get a Coherent 315M with ~100mW (532nm). Just check with Phil who often posts in the "for sale" section of this forum, or maybe someone else has one to sell (or check eBay). The 315 is not a ring laser, but has plenty of coherence. The Coherent "532 Series" are true ring lasers I believe, and less common. They should have even more coherence than the 315M, but I don't think this is of any practical significance for our purposes, because the coherence of the 315 is more than adequate for our purposes. The price should be about the same for a Coherent 532 @ 100mW, maybe a bit more (maybe $2,000), but they are much less common than the 315.

Julian · Post by **Julian** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:11 pm

thank you Joe for your great answer.

Jem · Post by **Jem** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:07 am

Hi

Whereabouts in the world are you located?

Jem

Julian · Post by **Julian** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:59 am

Hi Jem,
I am in the UK