Computer tech blog

[NejinOniwa]

That's definitely what I should watch. I heard nothing of depleted Nd:YAG rods. Here's why: Neodynium have an outrageously long decay time, having a Half-life of up to 700+ years. And it's the active ingerdient of the rod's formula.

There is an error in your calculations... -_-

Naturally occurring neodymium (Nd) is composed of 5 stable isotopes, 142Nd, 143Nd, 145Nd, 146Nd and 148Nd, with 142Nd being the most abundant (27.2% natural abundance), and 2 radioisotopes, 144Nd and 150Nd. In all, 31 radioisotopes of Neodymium have been characterized up to now, with the most stable being naturally occurring isotopes 144Nd (alpha decay, a half-life (T½) of 2.29×10^15 years) and 150Nd (double beta decay, T½ of 7×10^18 years). All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 11 days, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 70 seconds.

So the somewhat stable radioisotopes of Nd have halflifes of what like, 1k and 1m TRILLION years...
That said, it's sure quite probable that someone's just screwed up and killed them off by clumsiness.

[Dr. Mario]

Well, you made your point, NejinOniwa. I didn't know about it until I found out its actual half-life value.

I knew it had to be one of Nd Isotope. Not sure if it was Nd:144 in the formula... Definitely has to last much longer than a few week, otherwise it's useless for the usage as a lasant.

Depleted Nd:YAG (by normal usage)? Very unlikely. I never have heard of that.
Although I knew overheating issue's very effective in killing the laser rod, like this one.

[Smokey]

Ah, well... i am a bit spoiled by the dutch laws stating that such false statements are misleading and thus illegal...

Buuuuut that would make my search a lot cheaper... (and a little bit less hard ^_^)

I also found ND:YAG Slabs (awfully expensive, though) what's the added value of those... Cuz i think those mean spending more cash for more work and getting a couple of rods, if you don't break 'em while cutting the slab...

[Dr. Mario]

HeeeeeeeeeeY!
That stuff (if perfectly polished around the ends and to be used as a laser itself) would make a hole far away! If supposedly the slab is one foot and has nice pink tint, would make 50 MW to 2 GW pulsed light, depending on how chilled it is, and what kind of lamp lighting it up like a christmas tree.

[Smokey]

Crap, i can't find the right ebay... What ebay did you send me to?

[Dr. Mario]

What error did you encounter when you tried www.ebay.com site?

[Smokey]

not an error, but more the fact that i can't find the items i previously found...

Added after 2 minutes:

Found it... ^_^

http://cgi.ebay.com/Laser-Crystal-Square-Slab-123x33x10mm-Yag-Rod-Pink_W0QQitemZ200317603487QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item200317603487&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1546|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

[Dr. Mario]

Eehm... Is your cookie in the Internet Explorer (or Firefox) enabled? I don't know...! T_T

Anyways, saving a HTML of favorite item do help also. (Remember to rename the saved page with short words or name. Otherwise, IE will fail to save that.) I always do that, though.

[Smokey]

ah, well i am currently on my laptop, i keep that page open in chrome on my pc... also found a slab wich is slightly larger (~1cm)...

Added after 2 minutes:

And WAUW!!! Ruby laser rods are a lot cheaper!!! ;010

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-2-Ruby-Laser-Rod-5-5-4-Polished-Flat-Ends_W0QQitemZ400043654211QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item400043654211&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1546|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50#ebayphotohosting

[Dr. Mario]

Ah. Goody! (sounding like an Italian chef) Mamma-Mia, that-a gonn-a be good!

[Smokey]

Ah, yes... i do believe that size matters... ^_^

[Dr. Mario]

Yea. You will want to wear Welder's faceshield. Any higher (The bigger the Nd:YAG crystal the higher the optical wattage) and the laser's pointing to the light metal, you will want to wear the Lead apron.

[Smokey]

In that case (if the lead apron is to stop the radiation) i think i'll go for a nice NBC Suit paired with welding goggles... always wanted one of those, now i finally have an excuse to scare the living crap out of the neighborhod...

[Dr. Mario]

Which, apparently, now you do.

The lighter metal, like Aluminum (like the one used for the food foil) would basically emit powerful X-ray radiation, with the optical brightness being few times brighter than the ones used by CT, when the Infrared laser disintegrates it.

[Dr. Mario]

Firebrick or darker-color hi-temp Ceramic are best choice for laser-stopper target.

Just to let you know.