Laser Safety and Alignment in the laboratory

Posted by Stephen Bunnell on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Laser-Safety-and-Alignment-in-the-laboratory-tp5756773.html

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Dear all,

    Although I do a good deal of imaging, I'm a biologist by training, and
have little familiarity with the installation and alignment of lasers and
with the pertinent safety considerations. I'd like to change this,
especially since I have a dead Kr/Ar laser on a 3-laser 5-line launch that
uses an AOTF and feeds a single fiber. This laser is heavily used to provide
both 568 and 643 lines, but is pretty weak, at ~15mW per line.

    Ideally, I'd like to replace the laser with more powerful diode-based
lasers, but the laser platform is a custom job, and I am not comfortable
drilling into it to create new mounting positions. I get the feeling that it
would be rather expensive to migrate all the viable components to a new
platform and replace the Kr/Ar with diode lasers. Alternately, I could get
the laser refurbished (a steal, at ~$2000), but then I'd still face the
dismounting, remounting, and alignment of the laser. I am not currently
comfortable with the alignment and safety aspects of such an installation.
I'm looking for guidance on how to learn these skills. Is this the kind of
thing one can learn by doing, or do I need expert guidance? If I'm going to
start doing my own laser installation and alignment (and I think that I
should), what training and safety kit should I be getting? Where might I get
the relevant training?

    Thanks much,

    Steve
   



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Stephen C. Bunnell, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Tufts University Medical School
Department of Pathology
Jaharis Bldg., Room 512
150 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 02111

Phone: [phone]
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Email: [hidden email]