On Sun, 10 Nov 2002, Robert Rolf wrote:

*>It is oval shaped and requires special optics to
*>get a fine gaussian beam. On the other hand you could just blast
*>it through a pin hole to get something appropriate to the scale
*>a DIY board would handle.

Pinholes do not sharply image laser beams. You would get a first class
diffraction pattern from it. You would need to pass it through a pinhole
and image the pinhole with an additional lens. This will lose a lot of
power.

Fiber that passes UV is expensive.

CD laser heads include all the parts required to make a secondary-scanned
imaging device, if the laser and mirror are replaced with a UV one. This
could be mounted on a plotter and do the job. Probably with fixed focus.
The tracking coild could be driven with ac to make a wider path.

What are the current prices and wavelengths for UV diodess ?

Peter

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