A one joule,XeCl pumped dye laser

A 4 J XeCl (308 nm) laser has been used to produce 1 J of dye laser output from selected dyes whose lasing wavelengths sample the spectral range from 330 to 600 nm.     

Threshold singularities of optically pumped dye lasers

A complete theoretical model for optically pumped dye lasers is studied using the rate equation approach which includes excited singlet and triplet state absorption effects. Closed-form solutions under steady-state conditions reveal a novel nonlinear threshold phenomenon: partial reabsorption of the excited laser light can lead to a discontinuous onset of laser oscillation above laser threshold. Theoretical and experimental results for a transversely and longitudinally pumped rhodamine 6G laser are presented in terms of softmode and hardmode behavior at threshold.     

Pulse formation in synchronously pumped infrared dye lasers

Pulse formation in synchronously pumped dye lasers with fast relaxing dyes is treated by computer simulation. The influence of spontaneous emission and chirp, as well as cavity mismatch, on the pulse characteristics and stability of generation are discussed.     

Solid-state active media of tunable organic-compound lasers pumped with a laser. I. An XeCl laser

The lasing properties of organic compounds in a polymethylmethacrylate matrix radiating in the blue-green (paraterphenyle and coumarine derivatives) and red (phodamine and phenalemine derivatives) regions of the spectrum pumped by an XeCl laser are studied. The lasing efficiency and photostability of the solid-state active media are compared with corresponding characteristics of the same liquid active media. Received: 14 March 2001 / Published online: 7 June 2001     

Effect of laser dye deterioration on performance

Loss of gain in a dye medium as a result of decomposition by pump photons is considered in terms of disappearance of dye molecules and the appearance of a new, single chemical product having absorption in the fluorescence band. The cases of small signal gain and saturated gain are applied to a single pass through a transversely excited amplifier. Loss of output, defined as “quantum yield of laser deterioration”,Q _L , is related to the true quantum yield of molecular destruction of the dye,Q _M , and other known parameters. For the experimentally common, saturated gain condition, the smallestQ _L can be isQ _M , which requires a photochemically bleachable dye with high gain, preferably at high concentration, in a long cavity, operating at high injection and pumping fluxes. Reversing these conditions, the highest valueQ _L can be, compared withQ _M , is unrestricted. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. Contract No. W 7405 Eng 48.     

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.     

Photophysical properties and laser characteristics of a new rigid aminocoumarin dye lasing in the blue-green region

The photophysical properties of a new dye, 7-Diethyl AminoCoumarin with a Rigid substitution in the 3-position (referred to as DARC) have been studied in three solvents: dioxane, DMF and DMSO. The dye has been found to have a fluorescence quantum efficiency (_fl) between 0.40 and 0.80 in these solvents. The dye-laser performance of this dye has also been investigated in dioxane, DMF and DMSO, under nitrogen-laser pumping and compared with that of the commercially available standard laser dye, Coumarin 515 (C-515). A tuning range of nearly 70 nm was obtained in the blue-green region with an efficiency up to 80% of that of the standard dye. The observed characteristics of the dye are explained in terms of the sructural rigidization of the dye in the 3-position which inhibits the formation of the Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer (TICT) conformation in the excited state leading to an enhancement of the _fl and a considerable improvement in the laser performance.Research carried out at U.D.C.T., Bombay, India     

Subpicosecond pulse generation in synchronously pumped and hybrid ring dye lasers

Subpicosecond pulse generation has been examined in synchronously pumped mode-locked ring dye laser systems. These include hybrid and composite absorber/gain media arrangements as well as a simple synchronous cavity. The shortest pulses recorded were 0.3 ps for the hybrid system, and this has been shown to be critically dependent on the positioning of the absorber jet in the centre of the cavity to better than 50 m. Stable operation for subpicosecond pulse generation has been achieved in the ring configuration with greater wavelength tunability and higher average power conversion efficiency than with conventional cavity arrangements.     

The vibrational relaxation time constant for theB v=0 level of XeCl

The vibrational relaxation time constant for theB _v=0 vibrational level of XeCl^* has been investigated by observing the coupling between theB _v=1 andB _v=0 vibrational levels under saturated lasing conditions. Based on this observation, estimates of the expected extraction efficiency from theB-state have been made.     

Laser characteristics of a new laser dye: 7-Diethylamino-3-Styryl Benzimidazo (1,2-a) Quinoline

The laser characteristics of a new dye, 7-Diethyl-amino-3-Styryl Benz31 yimidazo (1,2-a) Quinoline (DSBQ) have been investigated in two solvents: DiMethylSulfOxide (DMSO) and DiMethylFormamide (DMF) by excitation with a pulsed nitrogen laser and compared with that of the standard dye rhodamine B. The lasing range of the dye is nearly 40 nm with maxima at 635 nm and 625 nm in DMSO and DMF, respectively. The efficiency of this dye (DSBQ) has been found to be better than half that of rhodamine B.     

Polarization and power characteristics of pulsed dye lasers with transverse pumping

Starting from the classical theory on molecular luminescence in liquids, rate equation for two-polarization-mode laser oscillation under transverse pumping with intense excitation have been set forth neglecting the influence of orientational relaxation of the dye molecules. Hence, the laser output power and polarization under different configurations have been obtained. The results show that the dye laser is partially polarized even when the pump beam is unpolarized and no polarizing elements exist in the cavity. If we define a reference plane consisting of the axes of the pump beam and the dye laser, the laser system has to adopt the plane perpendicular to the reference plane as the polarization direction in order to yield a highly efficient, linearly polarized laser output. Experiments on a copper-vapor laser pumped dye laser verified these analytical results.     

Double XeCl laser with lateral UV preionization

We present a very compact and very reliable laser system formed of two discharge sections both with lateral UV preionization. The discharge electrodes are contained in a single vessel and form an oscillator-amplifier system. A single spark gap switches on both circuits. By applying a generalized self-filtering unstable resonator to the oscillator and injecting the laser beam into the single pass amplifier, an output beam of 105 mJ, with a brightness of 5.5×10¹³ W cm^–2Sr^–1 has been obtained. Moreover, by applying a pulse-forming network in one discharging circuit, the duration of the discharge breakdown has been increased and output laser pulses of 40 ns FWHM, and 80 ns base width duration (at 10% points) and of energy 100 mJ are obtained.     

High-pressure behaviour of an X-ray preionized discharge pumped XeCl laser

The output characteristics are described of an X-ray preionized discharge pumped XeCl laser, fed by a low-impedance pulse forming line (PFL), at pressures up to 12 bar. The influence of a multichannel rail gap placed between the PFL and the laser head on the output energy was studied. We found an increase of output energy with increasing pressure up to 8 bar. At higher pressures a saturation behaviour was found. The maximum output energy per unit volume was 6.5 J/l.     

High-energy dye laser pumped by wall-ablation lamps

A guideline for the optimum design of linear wall-ablation lamps is presented with a simple empirical formula which describes the luminescent characteristics of lamps. The absolute luminescent efficiency of the wall-ablation lamp was measured. A high-energy dye laser with a quadruple-elliptical cylindrical cavity was constructed using these lamps, and an output energy of 23.3 J (11.6 MW) was obtained with an overall efficiency of 0.31 %. The energy-flow diagram of this laser system was computed with a rate-equation analysis, and the conversion efficiency from electrical input to laser output was determined. One can expect an overall efficiency of about 2 %.     

Xe2Cl fluorescence and absorption in self-sustained discharge XeCl lasers

Fluorescence at 490 nm from the triatomic excimer Xe₂Cl^* has been investigated to determine the 308 nm absorption due to this species in an x-ray preionized, self-sustained gas discharge XeCl laser. The dependence of Xe₂Cl^* density on laser intensity (at 308 nm), buffer gas and Xe and HCl partial pressures has been determined for discharges with a peak electrical power deposition of 2.5 GWl^–1. Xe₂Cl^* absorption is estimated to reach 0.6% cm^–1 under non-lasing conditions but decreases to a non-saturable 0.2% cm^–1 for intracavity laser intensity>1 MW cm^–2. XeCl^* and Xe₂Cl^* fluorescence intensities were found to be a similar for both helium and neon buffer gases but laser output was a factor of two greater with a neon buffer.     

Pulse generation by distributed feedback dye lasers

Equations describing the pulse generation by distributed feedback dye lasers are derived and solved by analytical methods. The dependence of the laser output on macroscopic parameters is discussed.On leave from the Department of Physics, Friedrich-Schiller-University, DDR-6900, Jena, German Democratic Republic     

Scattering and chlorine absorption in discharge-pumped XeCl excimer lasers

Scattering microparticles were found to determine the characteristic behavior of the laser energy of discharge pumped XeCl excimer lasers with aluminium electrodes. All experimental results indicate that sputtered aluminium reacts with chlorine, a constituent of the laser gas, and forms aluminium chloride particles. Chlorine was observed to be formed by a reaction of oxygen, contained as an impurity, with the halogen donor hydrogen chloride under discharge conditions.     

Passively Q-switched Nd:YAG pumped UV lasers at 280 and 374 nm

Pulsed UV lasers at the wavelengths of 374 and 280 nm are realized by cascaded second harmonic generation (SHG) and sum frequency generation (SFG) processes using a Nd:YAG laser at 1123 nm. The Nd:YAG laser is longitudinally pumped and passively Q-switched, and it has a high peak power of 3.2 kW. The UV peak powers at 280 and 374 nm are 100 and 310 W, with pulse lengths of 6 and 8 ns, respectively. Spectral broadening of 374 nm laser by stimulated Raman scattering is studied in single mode pure silica core UV fiber. Realizations of UV lasers enabling compact design at 280 and 374 nm wavelengths are demonstrated.     

300 Femtosecond pulses at 497 nanometer generated by an excimer laser pumped cascade of distributed feedback dye lasers

The setup is a cascade of 3 lasers: A competing cavity dye laser pumped by a XeCl excimer laser, followed by two distributed feedback dye lasers. The typical durations of the pulses from the lasers are 100 ps, 5 ps, and 300 fs, respectively. The output pulses at 497 nm are amplified up to 500 MW. The shortest pulse duration obtained was 198 fs.