The general internal construction of the unstabilised laser heads can
be found in U.S. Patent #3,626,323: Thermal Stabilizing Arrangement
for a Laser Device. Yeah, I know it has "stabilizing" in the
title but don't be fooled! :)
The principles of operation but NOT the internal construction for the
Perkin Elmer 5800 stabilized HeNe laser is covered in U.S. Patent
#3,793,595: Single Frequency Stabilized Laser.
- Perkin Elmer 5201 Power Supply (Gallery)
This is probably similar to the 5202 power suppytl, below, but with three
connectors for the laser head instead of one
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View 01 - Front view of Perkin Elmer 5201 power supply.
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View 02 - Rear view of Perkin Elmer 5201 power supply.
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View 03 - Interior left view of Perkin Elmer 5201 power supply.
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View 04 - Interior left/bottom view of Perkin Elmer 5201 power supply.
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View 05 - Interior underneath view of Perkin Elmer 5201 power supply.
- Perkin Elmer 5200 HeNe Laser and 5202 Power Supply (Gallery)
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View 01 - Perkin Elmer 5200 laser head.
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View 02 - Closeup of HR-end.
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View 03 - Closeup of OC-end.
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View 04 - Laser head disassembled.
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View 05 - Closeup of left end of tube.
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View 06 - Closeup of right end of tube.
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View 07 - Front view 5202 with cover removed.
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View 08 - Interior view.
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View 09 - Left/bottom interior view.
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View 10 - Top/left interior view.
- Perkin Elmer 5600 HeNe Laser and 5204 Power Supply (Gallery)
This laser head may be very slightly newer than the one above, but also
uses a two-Brewster laser tube. It's actually called a "Tooling Laser",
so it was probably intended for applications like alignment and positioning
in a factory. It uses the more modern 5204 power supply, and as can be seen,
it still works. :)
There are actually two filaments in this laser head (and probably the
others as well), one being a spare. A jumper inside the power supply
is used to select the desired filament, presumably to be changed if the
first filament burns out. CAUTION: Do NOT change the jumper on a working
laser or randomly mate a laser head to power supply without confirming
the jumper setting. If an unused (but good) filament is
powered, it will outgas causing the discharge color to change dramatically -
probably turning blue at which point lasing will cease abruptly. Doing this
accidentally for only a few seconds required several hours of running on
the original filament to recover. If continued, it probably would have
taken much longer.
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View 01 - Perkin Elmer 5600 laser head and 5204 Power Supply Running.
- Perkin Elmer 5204 HeNe Laser Power Supply (Gallery)
This is the later model power supply that runs lsaer heads like the
the 5600, above. It's about 1/10 the size and weight of that other
monster!
- Perkin Elmer 75 HeNe Laser Power Supply (Gallery)
This is a very early model Perkin Elmer HeNe laser power supply. The
identify of the mating head is unknown but based on a 1968 brochure, it
had a minimum rated output power of 1.0 mW (1.5 mW typical), divergence
of 0.8 mR (full angle), and an expected life of 4,000 hours. The cost
of the system in 1968 was $295.
- Perkin Elmer 5800 Stabilized HeNe Laser Head with 5801 Power Supply (Gallery)
The is a stabilied HeNe laser head made by Perkin Elmer. It consists of a
two-Brewster tube with a heated filament in a short squat laser head
sealed enclosure. A separate large controller/power supply
attaches via a cable the thickness of a garden hose. The locking scheme is
not known definitively but is believed to be Lamb Dip based on the presence
of both a heater and PZT. (Power supply photos courtesy of Bob Arkin.)
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View 01 - Perkin Elmer 5800 laser head - overall view. The connector
has 11 pins in a circle with one in the center for the high voltage.
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View 02 - Perkin Elmer 5800 laser head - left front view.
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View 03 - Perkin Elmer 5800 laser head - right back view.
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View 04 - Perkin Elmer 5800 laser head - front interior view. The
assembly in the center with the blue and white wires is a PZT for the
OC mirror.
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View 05 - Perkin Elmer 5800 laser head - back interior view. The
assembly in the center is the photosensor for locking feedback. The
fat blue wire is for the high voltage attached to the ballast.
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View 06 - Perkin Elmer 5801 power supply - front view.
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View 07 - Perkin Elmer 5801 power supply - back view.
- Perkin Elmer 5800 Stabilized HeNe Interferometer Laser Head (Gallery)
This consists of a stabilized HeNe laser combined with interferometer optics
and an optical receiver for displacement measurement using homodyne
interferometry.
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View 01 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser left front.
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View 02 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser front view.
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View 03 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser left back view.
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View 04 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser back view.
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View 05 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser front interior.
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View 06 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser interferometer optics.
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View 07 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser detector module
consisting of the interferometer optics and detector PCB.
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View 08 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser detector PCB.
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View 09 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser signal and PZT
connectors.
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View 10 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser high voltage connector.
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View 11 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser detector cable plug.
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View 12 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser interior view.
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View 13 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser baseplate.
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View 14 - Perkin Elmer 5800 interferometer laser label.