Measuring laser output temperature

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on estimating the temperature of the S3 Spyder III Arctic portable 1W laser dot. While the laser operates at 900mW and a wavelength of 445nm, it is noted that 1 watt is not sufficient for significant heating unless concentrated on a small area. Users suggest that local scorching might occur on poor heat conductors, but cutting metal or igniting materials like matches may be challenging. Non-contact thermometers can provide some insight, but they average temperatures over a larger area, making them less effective for pinpoint measurements. Safety precautions are emphasized, particularly the importance of wearing goggles to protect against potential eye damage.
phaelin
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Hi,

This is my first post on this forum, just joined. I recently purched the S3 Spyder III Arctic portable 1W laser from wickedlasers. I bought it to try and make some cool photographs and photoshop them. After testing the device (glad I bought safety goggles with it) I was wondering how hot the laserdot actually gets. Short of buying an expensive thermometer is there any way to guestimate this? I've tried to set fire to a match (used one) and a candle wick that also has burned before. I'm not sure but I guess a catalyst like an actual flame is necessary to ignite those materials no matter how hot you get them to be.
Does anyone have an easy way to determine what temperatures could be reached with this laser? It operates on an average of 900mW and at a wavelenght of 445nm.

I'm not versed at all in physics, save from the little I remember from high school so I'm sorry if it's a stupid question.
 
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No, it isn't a stupid question, but it is not an easy one to answer.

1 watt isn't much power and even if you assumed it was all heat, it couldn't do much heating.

If you concentrated all the power into a very small dot and shone this on a poor heat conductor, you might get some local scorching.

If the spot was 1 square mm and the depth of heating was 0.1 mm and you knew the specific heat of the target material, you might be able to estimate the heating with 1 watt.

I can't see you cutting up razor blades with it.
I saw a video of someone cutting the metal blade of a tomahawk with a laser, but that was a serious laser.

It might have enough power to pop a balloon. Maybe enough to light a match.

Plenty of power to ruin your retina, though, so keep those goggles on. Even with the goggles, don't look directly at the laser.

You can get non-contact thermometers, but they take an average of everything in their field of view, so the hot spot from the laser would get averaged with a lot of stuff at room temperature.
 

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