Whats Inside a Laser Pointer?
The description below applies to most red laser pointers sold today (pen or key-chain type). For info on green laser pointers, see the section: Green (or Other Color) Laser Pointers). For a quick introduction to both types, see: The LED Museum’s Bit on Laser Pointers. A common red laser pointer contains the following components as shown in Typical Red Laser Pointer: • Laser diode. This will have a 3 to 5 mW maximum output. The laser diodes in older/cheaper laser pointers produced light at 670 nm (deep red). Newer/better ones are in the 650 to 635 nm range (red to orange-red, which appears many times brighter, mW for mW than 670 nm). Someday, we will see inexpensive diode laser based laser pointers at all colors of the spectrum – someday. Early laser pointers had the laser diode in its own 5 or 9 mm can package mounted (probably press-fit) in a metal casting which in addition to holding the optics (see below) acts as a heat sink. In an effort to reduce costs, the newest and cheapest one
