[analog31]

I have Hobbs, and it's a great general book. But it may fall into that fine literary genre of "explanations for people who already understand things." Hobbs assumes a fairly advanced understanding of physics and electronics.

You might be able to learn how to make gadgets that work at the prototype level, but designing a potentially dangerous product is engineering. I don't know how you do that without working as an engineer for a long time.

Disclosure: I'm a scientist who works in laser product development, among other things, but not a licensed engineer.

[fest]

On a related note- do you know of any books that cover diode laser safety? Specifically, I'm working on a FMCW laser rangefinder (hobby project to teach myself more of analog electronics) and would like to know what is the maximum optical power I should use.

[pjc50]

There's actually a good quick guide to this in the article: stick to the laser pointer classification of less than 5mw.

[fest]

I'm more interested in things like: if the diode is on for half the time (50% duty cycle), can I use 10mW? if I transmit a high frequency chirp with even less total duty cycle, can I use even more power?

Not that it really matters in my case: I will probably scrap the project when/if I make a good enough amplifier stage and phase detector for short range where 5mW should be enough.

[analog31]

Well, Hobbs is also the place to go for how to make that amplifier stage. He has some articles online for photodiode front ends, that are quite informative.

Admittedly I've never looked into those issues because the gadgets that I've helped design are all Class 1 -- the system is fully enclosed and interlocked.

[rjzzleep]

Which regulations do you have to follow / which standards do you have to adhere to when it comes to proving reliability of the developed laser product?

Also if Hobbs is a great general book, what would be an example for something more specific? I'm particularly interested in near-infrared lasers.

[jschwartzi]

In the US, lasers are FDA-regulated. This is true even if they're not used for medical purposes.