NEW PRODUCTS: Lasers! You have some frickin’ sharks at your lair, and you’re thinking “it would be really great if I could attach some lasers to them” and then you see these little laser diode modules: what great timing! These encapsulated laser diodes are Class IIIa 5mW, with a 650nm red wavelength. They can be driven from 2.8V to 5.2V so they’re great for your embedded electronics project. We are stocking 4 kinds, check them out in our new laser category!

Laser Diode – 5mW 650nm Red: You can use these for laser harps, electronic ‘trip wires’, laser-vision guidance, and more! Simply connect power to the red and black wires and you will be lasing in no time.

Please note: this is not a laser pointer. It’s a diode with integrated driver. You still need a 3 to 5VDC power supply. These diodes are 5mW output, and have a safety label marked on them. For more information on laser safety and ratings check out the Wikipedia page.

TTL Laser Diode – 5mW 650nm Red – 50KHz Max: This module in particular is designed to be modulated/pulsed via the yellow wire. So you can use these for laser light shows, laser harps, ‘wireless’ communications and data transmission, electronic ‘trip wires’, laser-vision guidance, and more! Simply connect 5V power to the red and black wires, and pull the yellow wire to 5V or ground to turn on and off, respectively. You will be lasing in no time.

Line Laser Diode – 5mW 650nm Red: This particular laser diode has a lens attached to turn the dot into a line. We think this would be particularly good for making a 3D scanner, but there are probably many other cool uses! Simply connect power to the red and black wires and you will be lasing in no time.

The line beam spread is 120° – so from a distance of 5cm the line is 15cm long. The line fades out and doesn’t have a sharp cut-off.

Cross Laser Diode – 5mW 650nm Red: This particular module has a lens attached that will turn the dot into a cross. This makes it particularly good for laser-vision guidance, targeting, and more! Simply connect power to the red and black wires and you will be lasing in no time.

The cross has a beam spread of approximately 60° in both directions. So from a distance of 5cm, the cross is 5cm tall and 5cm wide. The cross ends have a sharp cutoff so the shape is very clearly defined.