Test Beds

Steve over at Wicked Lasers sent us the comparison product that you see in the middle of the Extreme Series 80 mW and our silver common every day garden variety red laser pointer. The comparison product is a 5 mW greenie, so we will see the difference shortly. All three lasers will be put through some testing to determine beam stastics and profiling. Let's move on to the comparison.

Comparison

For our comparison we are going to use the following test beds. Starting from the left we have the <80 mW Extreme Series Phoenix, a <5 mW Green Laser pointer and a typical <5 mW Red Laser pointer. Each of the three lasers are power by 2 x AAA batteries for power and will be our test subjects. First off let's get a look at the surface brightness.

Surface Brightness Distribution

For this test we used a static mounting position for each of the three lasers and mounted our camera on a tripod and took these photographs from 10 feet away. The ambient light consisted of a dark room and our target was a light grey office wall. Let's take a look.

Red Laser Pointer	Green Laser Pointer	Wicked Lasers
5 mW Red Laser	5 mW DPSS module	80 mW Extreme Series

A tremendous amount of output emanates from the Extreme Series - Phoenix. Cleary we can see the coherent beam and the huge corona discharge (diffusion) over the typical 5 mW red laser diodes. The Extreme Series - Phoenix puts out excessive beam scatter and reflective discharge emissions that should be taken seriously. With such high power we highly recommend that you wear eye protection at all times. This thing is seriously outrageous.

Beam Profile & Feedback

We will use our Beam profiler and optical power meters to get some sample data and compare it to Wicked Lasers specifications, to see if Wicked Lasers lives up to their claims.

• CDRH Class: IIIb
• Wavelength Recognition: Nd:YVO4 YAG, Frequency Doubled KTP
• Beam Mode: TEM00, Continuous Wave
• Output Power (CW): <118.920 mW ~ < 84.001 mW,
• Output Frequency: 530 ~ 534 nanometers
• Frequency Overlap: 532 ~1070 nm (Ir leaks)
• Output Stability: < ± 20% - 30.0°C/86.1°F @ 20 Arc Seconds
• Output Current: 3 Volt DC, 500mA (nominal) ~ 580mA (peak)
• Beam diameter at the aperture (1/e2) (mm): < 1.55 mm
• Waste diameter: < 1.01 mm
• Beam divergence, full angle (mrad): < 1.75 mrad
• Final Beam Quality: Average

Our profiler shows frequency over-lapping, which means we are seeing spikes of infrared emitting from the aperture. What we are seeing is a minute amount of frequency pulse of 808 nm & 1064 nm from within the 532 nm wavelength. This is known as frequency leaking. This is normal operations for most green lasers as the filters and beam optics do spike to the infra-red spectrum. This is a quality control issue which is a direct result of manufacturing specifications and tolerances.

Wicked Lasers Extreme Series 80 mW at night - Facing camera*

 All 532 nm greenies leak infra-red, what we have to do is compare data with other samples to see just how much leak we have. So what we look for in beam profiling is the Frequency Overlap which is another factor that determines beam quality. Our tests conclude that we have a random succession of spiking which falls with in the average beam quality of most 532 nm laser modules.

Wicked Lasers Extreme Series 80 mW at night - Away from camera*

 On power up our profiler detects the beam frequency is sampled above the 532 nm spectrum at peak power up and falls just below 532 nm during nominal operations. So what we see here is a frequency range between 530 and 534 nanometers which the spread spectrum between the highest and lowest frequencies determines the final beam quality.

Wicked Lasers Extreme Series 80 mW at night - Beam fired at some foliage*

The properties that we are seeing fall within Wicked Lasers claims and while we are seeing different parameters other than what manufacturer advertise. We have to keep things into perspective, meaning each laser while having similar characteristics, each one sold, has its own profile and properties. Therefore we are satisfied with our results and can honestly say that Wicked Laser's hold true to there advertisements and offer a product that performs as advertised. And in our case, the 80 mW laser module is actually rated higher than advertised, peak power was rated at 119 mW while averaging in at 84 mW power rating over 20 second sample reading.

Wicked Lasers Extreme Series 80 mW - Laser pointed at indoor wall unit*

If you own a Wicked Laser and have used the Extreme Series, then you know what I am talking about. These lasers are so bright when used outside at night, the power is intimidating to see and once you see it, then you realise this is a serious laser!

Wicked Lasers Extreme Series 80 mW - Raw Lens diffusion*

*Stepping outside around midnight, we shot a few blast's into the air and almost gasp from being in awe of it's outside performance. The beam is like a sword and cut's through the night air like a light sabor. The indoor shot was aimed at a wall unit in office reception area. The last pictures shows the beam fired into a beam trap and took the shot that shows an awesome diffusion pattern and anomalies from the focusing lens. Unfortunately the pictures do not capture the beam as intense as it really is.