On Jul 3, 11:22am, Andy Hubbard wrote:
> Subject: Re: How long a laser lasts
>  From my experiences it is clear that single gas lasers outlive mixed
> gas lasers by an incredible amount.

I have an argon ion laser manufactured in 1983 which is still working. I
inherited it is 1987 without papers, so I cannot say what percentage of initial
output is left, but I suspect that it is a 25mW laser and I can get about 15mW
out. It is not heavily used, but it says something about shelf life.

If you get a 100mW argon ion laser, and you take care of it, it will last
forever. Even after its power output drops you will still be able to use it.
To get an idea -- my 100mW laser is being run at 5.5 amp, which is about 30% of
it rated power input. Its multiline output was measured at about 20mW. I
usually work with the 3% ND filter (ie, I toss out 97% of the output), and once
in a great while I go to 10%. After 1000 hours, there was no detectable drop it
power. So there is plenty of room for this laser to drop in power before I have
to retube.

If I used 457nm more, I would need to use more of the laser's power. But even
then there is plenty of room for the tube to deteriorate before it needs
replacement.

I think that an argon ion laser with green HeNe is a better choice than argon
krypton for labs which cannot afford to retube every year or two.

Perhaps the many users of argon krypton lasers can give us an idea of the
operating conditions for their lasers -- how much power out, how much tube
current, and what sort of decreases are observerd over hundreds of hours of
operation. The last parameter can be measured, or else can be roughly estimated
by noting what power settings are required over the lifetime of the tube.

--aryeh

--
Aryeh Weiss                          | email: [log in to unmask]
Department of Electronics            | URL:   http://optics.jct.ac.il/~aryeh
Jerusalem College of Technology      | phone: 972-2-6751146
POB 16031                            | FAX:   972-2-6422075
Jerusalem, Israel                    | ham radio: 4X1PB/KA1PB