big laser arrays finally arrived (Patreon)

The arrays for my 400W handheld laser project finally showed up, but the packaging used wasn't exactly adequate. They were tossed in little bags and placed in a tiny box that got crushed on the way over here. The arrays themselves do look to be intact though, other than the tabs being bent a little bit. Now I have nearly everything I need on hand to finish the project, however I've been too preoccupied with other stuff to make much progress. That should change this week though.

These new arrays are quite a bit more impressive than what I used in my 100W handheld laser that I built back in 2020. There are more emitters packed into the same overall area, and the efficiency has gone way up too. These new arrays have nearly 50% electrical to optical efficiency, compared to 35% of the old ones. That is flat out insane. I thought 35% was impressive already!