Hi all,
The Chinese are knocking out lasers like these at ridiculously cheap prices currenty:
And I've seen others *even* cheaper than that including postage.
There are a good many applications for these parts that spring to mind, but the ones I'm thinking about require some sort of sensor capable of detecting if the beam is broken. I'm not sure what would fit the bill for this purpose. Light dependent resistors, even if they work well at this single wavelength (typically 650nm IIRC) are probably too sluggish to react and useless for all but the most elementary of applications. I'd like to make something up to measure the RPM of rotating machinery and need something that will provide a speedier and better-defined response. Any ideas for a suitable component?