Hi,

Why do you want to use this optocoupler? If you just want to switch something on with the PIC I would go for a FET solution.

ULN2001 is a favorite at this forum and if you only want to handle up to 500 mA this will do fine.. IF you need more you can use more channels in this chip in parallell.

You can also try to measure the current thru the laser to compare it with and without the TIL.

/me