I have seen laser kits online, but they are basically just premade and you hook up the power circuitry to it. How would you make a simple laser from the ground up?

 

You need an enormous amount of money and a research laboratory.

 

What kind of laser? YAG? CARBON? SCARP? DME? AUDIO? TRACKING? STAR-WARS?

 

I was hoping for a semiconductor laser, but I would take what I can get.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEA_laser

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tea+laser+device

 

Can you make a semi conductor?

 

What's a semi-conductor laser? Are you trying to etch a PCB using a laser? If so - watch out for your eyes. Would help us if we knew your goal(s).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_diode

Semiconductor lasers are what is used in DVD players, fiber optics, and most IT things that use lasers. I just want to make one myself.

 

How would you make a simple laser from the ground up?

For a solid state laser, to make if from scratch, you'd need 10's of millions or more.

Gas laser, much less expensive to develop, but it isn't going to operate from a battery.

 

What if you took the gallium arcenide out of the laser in a dvd drive? Could you make your own enclosure for it and power it yourself?

 

Just to make sure that do you really want to build a laser, if you do so then you will need the money money money as recklessrog and dl324 already mentioned, if you just want to have a laser generator or laser line generator then you can buy online or google "how to build a laser line generator" to build it.

 

What if you took the gallium arcenide out of the laser in a dvd drive?

There's no way to do that and still have a functioning LED.

Could you make your own enclosure for it and power it yourself?

I wouldn't consider that building your own "from the ground up". You can buy laser diodes from many sources.

Building your own laser diodes would require millions of dollars worth of equipment and people who had some recipes. You can use old equipment because LEDs can be made without resorting to submicron features.

 

Not that I am questioning you, but why can't you get gallium arcenide yourself and do it?

 

Not that I am questioning you, but why can't you get gallium arcenide yourself and do it?

Here is some info for you, once you understand all that, we would love to see what you come up with.

https://www.rp-photonics.com/solid_state_lasers.html
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_8.html

 

Not that I am questioning you, but why can't you get gallium arcenide yourself and do it?

Hola Nirelan,

Having a minimal idea of who dl324 is, I would tell that he he has some chances to get gallium arsenide and know what to do with it but you could not even that.

Please read one or two detailed explanations of what the laser effect is and how it is actually implemented and you could have your own question answered by yourself.

Unless what you call "build" is assembling an application of sorts, using a laser diode you got salvaged from old equipment.

 

I have read a lot about it and understand the book part. I just feel that its something you need hands on experience to understand in a practical way.

 

Not that I am questioning you, but why can't you get gallium arcenide yourself and do it?

If you take the GaAs out of the diode, you'll ruin the crystalline structure and the LED while you're at it. If you just want the materials, buy them. I doubt that any laser diode manufacturers manufacture their own wafers.

 

Ive read about how a laser works atferrari, I just think that doing it irl is going to be tons different than a book. Like for example, we all prob understand what a lens does, but I doubt most people could ground glass and make one by hand without practice.

 

Here is a question. Why on earth would you want to build your own laser when they can be so cheaply purchased? You might even have one in an old DVD or CD player.

And the correct term is laser diode not "semiconductor laser" that is used in a DVD player.

 

The correct term is semiconductor laser.
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/basov-lecture.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser#Semiconductor_lasers