Simple source of subnanosecond dye laser pulses

Abstract

A very simple dye laser cavity generates stable single pulses of less than 300-ps duration and several microjoules of energy when pumped by about 50 µJ of an 8-ns pulse from a low-pressure nitrogen laser. The pulses are produced by a mechanism similar to the "quenched" resonator setup. A theoretical description is given, showing good agreement with the observed results. Achievable improvements are described, which would reach the tens of picosecond range.