Hi,
I have bought a laser diode from a hobby shop. It has three leads. Sshouldnt a diode have two? I am a bit confused. Can some one tell me the basics of laser diodes?
Thanx.
Google has lots of information about laser diodes. The 3rd wire on yours is probably a built-in photodiode for brightness feedback.
You should get the datasheet for your laser diode or return it and buy one that has a datasheet.
As Nigel points out destruction is an issue. My laser diode punched a hole through 3/4" high-carbon plate steel. If it wasn't for the styrofoam panel that just happened to be lying behind it, I would've lost my wife's curio cabinet full of Hummel figurines as well as the 6" thick wall of my home. All that from a 3 volt source!
Personally, I didn't misunderstand you, as I don't misunderstand much. But I was hoping that samarsingla wasn't misled into thinking he could be severely injured by the laser based on your exaggeration.
JB
Thanx all for the feed back. How should I get this diode working? I want to get pulses of laser beam using a microcontroller. Do i need some other parts? What exactly do these do- https://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/onet4201ld.html ?? Please give me some link if someone knows of a good link as most of the links I got on google are commercial products not much informative...
You look at the datasheet for your laser and select parts for the driver IC to match its ratings. It is easy if you have the laser's datasheet.
If you don't have the laser's datasheet then either it won't work like a laser or it will blow up.
You also need to be very careful as there is a possibility that this unknown laser diode could be an Infra-red type as used in laser printers or cd players.
An invisible infra-red laser beam can still cause permanent eye damage!