Not a Ruby Laser
..but it might be someday. I haven't given up on building the ruby laser but I won't spend too much more time on it.
Today I was messing around with the alignment on my plywood breadboard and I realized that the alignment of the two mirrors was drifting rapidly (over a few minutes). That just won't work for a laser. Strangely enough it wasn't until today that I remembered an old optical breadboard that a friend gave me many years ago.
I've had it around and tried to use it on other optical projects but it never worked out. But it looks perfect for this application.
This shows the two mirrors and the ruby rod being illuminated by a Helium-Neon laser. the laser allows alignment of the mirrors. When things are close the beam flickers in an interesting way.
The picture was taken by setting off a small smoke bomb in the garage. The smoke scatters the light from the laser, otherwise only the ruby rod and small dots on the mirrors are visible.
Went on a hike today with Kathy, Ian and Monte. We had to change our plans because of a huge sports event that had the Pacific Coast Highway looking like downtown LA street parking. Went up the Chumash Trail, around the hill, into La Jolla Canyons and up and over down to the PCH.
Cheers.
Not a Ruby Laser
..but it might be someday. I haven't given up on building the ruby laser but I won't spend too much more time on it.
Today I was messing around with the alignment on my plywood breadboard and I realized that the alignment of the two mirrors was drifting rapidly (over a few minutes). That just won't work for a laser. Strangely enough it wasn't until today that I remembered an old optical breadboard that a friend gave me many years ago.
I've had it around and tried to use it on other optical projects but it never worked out. But it looks perfect for this application.
This shows the two mirrors and the ruby rod being illuminated by a Helium-Neon laser. the laser allows alignment of the mirrors. When things are close the beam flickers in an interesting way.
The picture was taken by setting off a small smoke bomb in the garage. The smoke scatters the light from the laser, otherwise only the ruby rod and small dots on the mirrors are visible.
Went on a hike today with Kathy, Ian and Monte. We had to change our plans because of a huge sports event that had the Pacific Coast Highway looking like downtown LA street parking. Went up the Chumash Trail, around the hill, into La Jolla Canyons and up and over down to the PCH.
Cheers.