Mode-locked CW dye lasers

Mode-locking of CW dye lasers are described. Three different methods: active mode-locking by acoustic loss modulation, pumping with mode-locked pulses and passive mode-locking by a saturable absorber, all resulted in stable continuous trains of tunable mode-locked pulses of various duration. Best results were obtained using passive mode-locking by a saturable absorber. The pulse lengths for this case were measured by auto-correlation technique to be as short as 1.5 ps. Factors influencing the mode-locking and possible improvements are discussed.     

Picosecond pulses from mode-locked dye lasers

Picosecond pulses have been generated in laser pumped (15 psec) and flashlamp pumped (6 psec) mode-locked dye lasers. Two-photon fluorescence and streak camera measurements are described.     

Femtosecond transform-limited Kerr-lens mode-locked dye lasers

Using SF6 glass plates as intracavity Kerr lenses and double-prism pairs for dispersion compensation, we achieve tunable femtosecond passive mode locking in rhodamine 590 (R6G) and 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-16-p-dimethylaminostyryl-4H-pyran (DCM) dye lasers. The R6G laser produces transform limited 240–500 fs pulses between 577 and 606 nm, and the DCM laser produces 150 fs transform-limited pulses between 650 and 671 nm. We use dilute intracavity saturable-absorber jets to make the mode locking self-starting. Characteristics of the pulses and the stability regions of the lasers agree with general theories of passive mode locking.     

Fluctuations in synchronously mode-locked dye lasers

We present detailed experimental data on random fluctuations of the pulse properties of a cw rhodamine 6G dye laser synchronously pumped by an acousto-optically mode-locked argon ion laser. It is shown that quantitative information about the fluctuations of the energy, the pulse repetition time and the duration of the pulses can be obtained from the power spectrum of the laser intensity which is measured with the use of an electronic spectrum analyser. This method is capable of revealing small, subpicosecond temporal pulse jitter. We show that the dye laser pulses exhibit an absolute r.m.s. jitter of 20 ps which is induced by the pump laser. The relative jitter in a dual system can be less than 1 ps because well defined correlations of the output fluctuations exist when two lasers are pumped by a common source.     

Theory of passively mode-locked cw dye lasers

The circulation of an ultrashort light pulse in a continuously pumped modelocked dye laser with a linear cavity configuration containing the active dye, the saturable absorber and a bandwidth-limiting elements is treated. The steady-state condition that the pulse shape reproduces after each cavity round-trip leads to a nonlinear integro-differential equation for this pulse shape. An approximate method for the solution of this equation not limited to the case of low laser gain and small pulse energies is given. The stable single pulse region and characteristic pulse parameters, as energy, duration, intensity and asymmetry, are considered in dependence on the laser parameters.     

Picosecond pulses from passively mode-locked dye lasers

Successive stages of the development of ultrashort pulses in passively mode-locked dye lasers are studied. It is numerically shown that the initial fluctuations evolve into a picosecond pulse which retains its magnitude and particular shape and moves slower than the speed of light.     

Mode competition effects in CW dye lasers

The output characteristics of a rhodamine 6G jet stream cw dye laser equipped with a mirror grating combination for mode selection, have been studied experimentally. The tuning range proved to be considerably narrower than that to be expected from the gain profile under the (erroneous) assumption of independently oscillating modes. Actually, the reduction of the tuning range is a consequence of mode competition, as pointed out in a previous theoretical paper. Moreover, the intensity of the selected mode has been found to be independent of the wavelength. All experimental findings are in a good agreement with the results of a theoretical analysis.     

Dynamical gain saturation in Kerr-lens mode-locked CW solid- state lasers

It is shown that dynamical gain saturation, usually neglected for solid-state lasers, can contribute significantly to the pulse-shaping mechanism in Kerr-lens mode-locked lasers. In particular, in combination with self-phase modulation it can cause red shifts and blue shifts of the laser spectrum. A control of the reciprocal gain and loss saturation rates using these shifts leads to improved mode- locking stability.     

A new synchroscan streak-camera read-out system for use with CW mode-locked lasers

The synchroscan streak-camera system has been further developed to obtain both picosecond temporal resolution and direct photomultiplier read-out from a single image tube. Advantages include reduction in cost, potentially improved S/N ratio, greater dynamic range and “free temporal range”, and ultimately improved time-resolution in the subpicosecond regime. An application to signal-to-noise improvement in Raman spectroscopy is described.     

Cavity detuning effects in the synchronously mode-locked CW dye laser

A detailed numerical model analysis of the synchronously mode-locked CW dye laser is presented. In the analysis, good mode-locking is found mainly for negative cavity detuning. The calculated cavity length detunig effects are compared with the results of experiments performed on the Oxazine-1 dye laser. The agreement between theory and experiment is satisfactory. The experimental good mode-locking regime is predicted correctly by this analysis. The present calculations are also compared with the hitherto reported qualitative model analyses with a gaussian dye pulse approximation. The validity of these model analyses is examined.     

Chirped and chirp-free femtosecond pulses in passively mode-locked dye lasers

Femtosecond light pulse generation in a ring laser and its propagation properties are described. The basic principles and some theoretical aspects of the pulse generation process in dye lasers are summarized taking into account the influence of the amplifier, of the saturable absorber, of the glass path and of mirrors. Phase modulation arising from multilayer dielectric mirrors has been calculated and measured by determination of an equivalent intracavity glass path length. The main source of phase modulation (chirp) seems to be the saturable absorber.     

Design of ring cavities for c.w. passively mode-locked dye lasers

A simple approach for the analysis and design of ring cavities for c.w. passively mode-locked dye lasers is suggested. The approach is based on the representation of the intracavity beam as a series of two matched beams, each considered to be formed in a linear cavity configuration. Useful expressions are obtained for the cavity parameters in terms of the intracavity beam properties of interest for two different beam configurations. The expressions can be used for the correct design of ring resonators.     

Numerical analysis of pulse generation in synchronously mode-locked cw dye lasers

We present theoretical results on the characteristics of pulses generated by a synchronously pumped dye laser. Our analysis indicates the important influence of spontaneous emission on shape and frequency chirp of the pulse. Dye-laser operation is possible within a wide range of cavity mismatch. A large mismatch of the lengths of the dye and the pump-laser cavity results in the generation of noise bursts caused by the influence of spontaneous emission. At small cavity mismatch pulse profile and frequency chirp of the pulse are directly generated in the steady-state regime by algebraic equations. Our formulas indicate that the sign of the pulse chirp depends only on the sign of the shift between laser frequency and centre frequency of the amplifying transition.     

Pulsewidth and interpulse jitter measurements of a passively mode-locked ring CW dye laser

Pulsewidth and jitter measurements have been carried out on a passively mode-locked Rhodamine 6G CW ring dye laser using the SHG autocorrelation technique and a synchroscan streak camera respectively. The pulse durations were measured to be ≈0.18 ps and the cumulative long-term jitter was deduced to be subpicosecond.     

Real time monitoring of CW mode-locked dye laser pulses using a rapid-scanning autocorrelator

A scanning autocorrelator operating at a repetition rate of 60 Hz was developed to monitor the pulses generated by a synchronously pumped oxazine 1 dye laser. The system incorporates a rotating fused-silica plate in a Michelson-like interferometer to obtain a periodic linear time delay between pairs of pulses. The second-order autocorrelation function, generated by nonlinear mixing of the pulse pairs in a crystal of lithium iodate, is displayed in real time on an oscilloscope together with a reference background to provide contrast ratio information.     

Picosecond and subpicosecon pulse generation in synchronously pumped mode-locked cw dye lasers

Generation of tunable near-infrared picosecond and subpicosecond pulses in a synchronously pumped cw mode-locked Oxazine-1-perchlorate dye laser has been investigated for different values of the important system parameters. The experimental results confirm the predictions of a simple theoretical model which describes the steady-state pulse duration in terms of gain modulation strength, pump power, intracavity bandwidth, pump pulse length and cavity detuning. For a pump-pulse length of 100 ps and a bandwidth of more than 500 Å for the intracavity tuning element dye-laser pulses as short as 0.35 ps have been obtained. Under these conditions up to 100 mW of average output power were provided. In addition, mode-locking of an Oxazine 750 dye laser by synchronous pumping with the cw train of pulses obtained from the Oxazine-1-Perchlorate laser is reported.     

Generation of synchronised ultrashort pulses using a dual wavelength synchronously mode-locked CW dye laser

The properties of a dual wavelength synchronously mode-locked cw dye laser are described. Results are presented which show that good mode-locking is obtainable under dual wavelength conditions. Cross-correlation measurements indicate that the time separation of the pulses depends on gain saturation within the dye.     

Line shape studies in CW dye laser intracavity absorption

The line shape of the signals observed by intracavity absorption in an atomic beam of barium is studied as a function of absorber density. Complex structure is observed consisting of both absorption and enhancement features. Comparison is made with models of intracavity absorption, and it is concluded that the rate equation model in its present form does not explain the structure. On the other hand the super-regen model does seem able to partially account for the observed structure. The complexity of the line shape will directly affect those workers who are using intracavity absorption as a spectroscopic technique.