A simulation and experimental study of dual-wavelength dye laser amplifiers

Abstract

AVLIS requires a high average power laser beam of multiple wavelengths. There are two general ways to achieve such a beam. One is generating different wavelength laser beams by individual dye laser MOPA chains, then spatially combining them by a beam combiner. The other is combining different wavelength laser beams into one beam first, then co-amplifying it by a common MOPA chain. The latter one is more efficient. To further develop the method, this paper demonstrates a simulation and experimental study of dual-wavelength dye laser amplifiers. The one of the most critical parameters of a dual-wavelength laser beam is the power ratio of the two constituent beams, which can vary during the co-amplification. The simulation results show that for two laser beams with small wavelength difference, the spatial combination mismatches of two beams are the more dominant factor than the spectral differences in affecting the power ratio during the co-amplification. The result of the experiment is in good agreement with the simulation.