Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My friend and I are doing an engineering project on converging several lower power beams onto a single point to act as one higher power laser. We tested our method with <5mW red lasers and, seeing as how it worked, we need to upgrade to higher power lasers. We are looking into 405nm violet lasers preferably upwards of 50milliwatts, but we lack a reliable vendor to purchase these from. As well as this, we need clarification on legal issues such as: Are lasers over 5mW such as the aforementioned violet ones legal to use and own if safety precautions are taken (which they are being)?

Thanks in advance,

Dallen and Jacob

If your experiment is a Science Fair project, then the proper authority to ask is the sponsor of the Science Fair. Any legal and laser saftey issues are mute if your project is not allowed to be entered.

Regarding sources, Edmond Optical is a good starting point.

Also remember the laser lab joke: Do not gaze at laser beam with remaining good eye.

Aside from that, why do you need higher power?

When you start getting into the 50 mW plus range, lasers can get very dangerous. A laser of that power will burn your retina in an instant. If you can demonstrate your experiment works with the 5 mW lasers, there is no reason you shouldn't stick with those.