Operation Of Dye Laser Research Articles

Single mode operation and ultrawide tuning of on-chip optofluidic dye lasers.

Single transverse mode lasers that can be continuously tuned over ultrawide wavelength ranges with a narrow linewidth are very important components for lab-on-a-chip systems. Such lasers that can be tuned over the whole visible spectrum or even beyond have not been demonstrated hitherto regardless of many years of research in this area. This article presents an on-chip optofluidic distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) dye laser constituted by a combination of a T-shaped optofluidic waveguide (T waveguide) and two ridge-waveguide-based fluidic DBR gratings, in which the T waveguide provides gain for lasing and the DBR gratings select the lasing wavelength. This configuration guarantees that the fundamental mode has a much lower loss (consequently much lower lasing threshold) than all the higher order modes. By fabricating PDMS devices of such structure and changing the fluid in DBR gratings as well as the gain fluid in the T waveguide, we demonstrate a single mode optofluidic dye laser that can be continuously tuned over a wavelength range of more than 450 nm with a linewidth less than 0.1 nm. Mode patterns obtained when using different laser dyes in the T waveguide verify fundamental mode operation over the wide wavelength range.

Tunable single-mode cw energy-transfer dye laser directly optically pumped by a diode laser

Within this work a tunable single-mode continuous wave energy transfer dye laser operation in green-yellow spectral region was achieved under direct optical pumping by an economy-class diode laser at λ = 445 nm. The laser is operated on a binary dye mixture: Coumarin 498 (donor) and Pyrromethene 556 (acceptor); the latter exhibits only negligible absorption at the pump wavelength, and thus its lasing is almost exclusively due to the excitation energy transfer. This binary energy transfer dye mixture was studied for the first time. Basic lasing properties at various acceptor concentrations were examined; donor concentration was fixed at the value optimum for its lasing under the optical pumping conditions applied. For the final acceptor concentration the optimum output coupling was determined for selected wavelengths from the measurements of the output power in variable output coupling scheme. Single-mode operation sufficiently stable for high-resolution spectroscopic applications was also achieved and tested. Further investigations of the energy transfer mechanisms and efficiency in the binary dye mixture applied are in progress and will be reported separately.

Tunable continuous wave single-mode dye laser directly pumped by a diode laser

In this work, a tunable continuous wave single-mode ring dye laser (a modified version of Coherent model CR 699-21), directly optically pumped by an economy-class diode laser, has been set up. The laser was operated on Coumarin 498, and its generation profile covered part of the green spectral region not easily accessible in single-mode operation. The performance of the laser in both broad-band and single-mode operation regimes was studied. It was proved that optical pumping by diode lasers allows one to obtain single-mode operation of dye lasers that is sufficiently stable for high-resolution spectroscopy applications.

Characteristics of a cascaded grating multi wavelength dye laser

Characteristics of a multi wavelength dye laser in two cascaded grating resonator configurations are presented. DCM dye dissolved in ethanol, was transversely pumped by second harmonic of Nd:YAG laser and four wavelength, independently tunable, collinear dye laser operation was obtained in Cascaded Grazing Incidence Grating cavity (CGIG) and Hybrid CGIG with fourth grating in Littrow angle (HCGIG) configuration. Gain competition effect of all the sub-cavities was fully characterized and wavelength zones of operation were identified for each cavity for sustaining four wavelength operation. Overall efficiency of the oscillator was measured to be around 2% in CGIG and 7% in HCGIG.

Extended emission wavelength of random dye lasers by exploiting radiative and non-radiative energy transfer

We demonstrate long-wavelength operation (>700 nm) of random dye lasers (using a methylene blue dye) with the addition of rhodamine 6G and titania, enabled by radiative and non-radiative energy transfer. The pump energy is efficiently absorbed and transferred to the acceptors, to support lasing in random dye lasers in the near infrared. The optimum random laser performance with the highest emission intensity and the lowest lasing threshold was achieved for a concentration of methylene blue as the acceptor equal to 6× the concentration of rhodamine 6G (donor). Excessive levels of methylene blue increased the lasing threshold and broadened the methylene blue emission linewidth due to dye quenching from re-absorption. This is due to competition between the donor emission and energy transfer and between absorption loss and fluorescence quenching. The radiative and non-radiative energy transfer is analyzed as a function of the acceptor concentration and pump energy density, with consideration of the spectral overlap. The dependence of the radiative and non-radiative transfer efficiency on the acceptor concentration is obtained, and the energy transfer parameters, including the radiative and non-radiative energy transfer rate constants (K R and K NR), are investigated using Stern–Volmer analysis. The analysis indicates that radiative energy transfer is the dominant energy transfer mechanism in this system.

Studying the Effect of Dye Jet Speed in Ring Dye Laser Operation

Studying the Effect of Dye Jet Speed in Ring Dye Laser Operation

Measurements of population densities of metastable and resonant levels of argon using laser induced fluorescence

We present a new approach to measure population densities of Ar I metastable and resonant excited states in low temperature Ar plasmas at pressures higher than 1 Torr. This approach combines the time resolved laser induced fluorescence technique with the kinetic model of Ar. The kinetic model of Ar is based on calculating the population rates of metastable and resonant levels by including contributions from the processes that affect population densities of Ar I excited states. In particular, we included collisional quenching processes between atoms in the ground state and excited states, since we are investigating plasma at higher pressures. We also determined time resolved population densities of Ar I 2 p excited states by employing optical emission spectroscopy technique. Time resolved Ar I excited state populations are presented for the case of the post-discharge of the supersonic flowing microwave discharge at pressures of 1.7 and 2.3 Torr. The experimental set-up consists of a pulsed tunable dye laser operating in the near infrared region and a cylindrical resonance cavity operating in TE111 mode at 2.45 GHz. Results show that time resolved population densities of Ar I metastable and resonant states oscillate with twice the frequency of the discharge.

Diffusion driven optofluidic dye lasers encapsulated into polymer chips

Lab-on-a-chip systems made of polymers are promising for the integration of active optical elements, enabling e.g. on-chip excitation of fluorescent markers or spectroscopy. In this work we present diffusion operation of tunable optofluidic dye lasers in a polymer foil. We demonstrate that these first order distributed feedback lasers can be operated for more than 90 min at a pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz without fluidic pumping. Ultra-high output pulse energies of more than 10 μJ and laser thresholds of 2 μJ are achieved for resonator lengths of 3 mm. By introducing comparatively large on-chip dye solution reservoirs, the required exchange of dye molecules is accomplished solely by diffusion. Polymer chips the size of a microscope cover slip (18 × 18 mm(2)) were fabricated in batches on a wafer using a commercially available polymer (TOPAS(®) Cyclic Olefin Copolymer). Thermal imprinting of micro- and nanoscale structures into 100 μm foils simultaneously defines photonic resonators, liquid-core waveguides, and fluidic reservoirs. Subsequently, the fluidic structures are sealed with another 220 μm foil by thermal bonding. Tunability of laser output wavelengths over a spectral range of 24 nm on a single chip is accomplished by varying the laser grating period in steps of 2 nm. Low-cost manufacturing suitable for mass production, wide laser tunability, ultra-high output pulse energies, and long operation times without external fluidic pumping make these on-chip lasers suitable for a wide range of lab-on-a-chip applications, e.g. on-chip spectroscopy, biosensing, excitation of fluorescent markers, or surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).

Molecular Encapsulation of Fluorescent Dyes Affords Efficient Narrow‐band Dye Laser Operation in Water

A water-based narrow-band high-efficiency dye laser was designed by means of a supramolecular host-guest chemical approach. The lasing characteristics of rhodamine B and sulforhodamine B (Kiton Red S) dyes in aqueous solution with the macrocyclic host cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) as additive were investigated in a narrow-band dye laser setup. Significant improvements in both photostability and thermo-optical properties of the aqueous CB7-complexed dye systems were observed as compared to the uncomplexed dyes in ethanol solution. The tuning curves for the new dye-CB7-water systems were constructed by measuring the laser output at different wavelengths, which showed similar peak efficiencies and red-shifted gains compared to the ethanolic solutions of the dyes, while dye laser operation revealed comparable pump threshold energies and slope efficiencies. The combined results render the dye-CB7-water system an attractive active medium for high-repetition rate dye laser operation.

Electronic Spectroscopy of UO2Cl2 Isolated in Solid Ar

Laser-induced fluorescence spectra have been recorded for uranyl chloride isolated in a solid Ar matrix. Pulsed excitation was examined using a XeCl excimer laser (308 nm) and a dye laser operating in the 19 500−27 500 cm−1 range. Several absorption and emission band systems were observed. The emission spectra were characterized by a nearly harmonic vibrational progression with a frequency of 840 cm−1 starting at 20 323 cm−1. The electronic absorption spectra were dominated by five harmonic vibrational progressions with frequencies of approximately 710 cm−1. Comparisons with theoretical calculations indicate that all of the transitions observed were associated with the UO2+2 subunit. They involved the promotion of an electron from a bonding orbital to the metal-centered 5fδ and 5fϕ orbitals. Band origins and vibrational constants for five excited states were obtained. Fluorescence was observed from the lowest-energy excited state alone, regardless of the excitation wavelength. The decay curve was found to be biexponential, with characteristic decay lifetimes of 50 and 260 μs.

Operation of pulsed dye laser with an intracavity phase step

Effects of an intracavity phase step on the spectral and spatial characteristics of pulsed dye laser radiation are studied. In the broadband operation regime of the dye laser, the lasing spectrum was strongly, periodically modulated. In the narrowband regime, periodic alteration between TEM 00 and TEM 01-like beam profiles is observed on tuning the laser wavelength. Two different spectral periods of these effects are recognized. The shorter period corresponds to double passage and the longer one to apparent single passage of intracavity light through the phase step on a cavity round trip. Depending on the position of the phase step along the laser cavity, single-passage period, double-passage period, or a superposition of both periods appeared in the broadband emission spectrum and in the beam profile alteration sequence. These observations demonstrate several possibilities for the control of spectral, spatial, and phase characteristics of laser beams by simple intracavity phase elements.

A multi-color fast-switching microfluidic droplet dye laser

We describe a multi-color microfluidic dye laser operating in whispering gallery mode based on a train of alternating droplets containing solutions of different dyes; this laser is capable of switching the wavelength of its emission between 580 nm and 680 nm at frequencies up to 3.6 kHz-the fastest among all dye lasers reported; it has potential applications in on-chip spectroscopy and flow cytometry.

Single mode operation of a narrow bandwidth dye laser using a single prism, grazing incidence grating long cavity

The single mode pulsed dye laser is an attractive tool for many spectroscopic applications. Long cavity tunable dye lasers generally operate in multi-longitudinal modes within the bandwidth of gain profile. Single longitudinal mode oscillation can be obtained by either making the cavity short enough or introducing an additional loss mechanism, in which all modes but one have a gain less than their loss. A new technique to achieve single mode operation in a long cavity dye laser, based on Rhodamine 6G dye in ethanol and ethylene glycol solution, pumped by a high repetition rate copper vapor laser, is reported. This laser, which operates in three modes in grazing incidence grating configuration (cavity length of 16 cm), has been made to lase in single mode by increasing the loss in the resonator through beam walk-off.

The fabrication and test of a square prism shaped dye micro laser based on the SU-8 molding process

A dielectric micro cavity of dye doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is fabricated by the SU-8 photoresist molding technique. The orthogonal array was adopted in our experiments for improving the pattern quality and analyzing the interaction among the process parameters. The molding technique by fabricating a solid polymer dye micro cavity laser is described in detail. The dye laser operation of the micro cavity has been confirmed.

Study of the Optical and Physical Roles of a Dielectric Laser Dye Solvent Which Affects on the Dye Laser Operation

It is well known that when the pump laser beam incidence on the laser dye liquid it will be absorbed. This absorption tends to heat the laser active medium, which is the laser dye solution. In view of this the correlated property of that active medium well change tends to shift the operated frequency and wavelength. Therefore, one of most interested dielectric, nonpolar, laser dye solvent was selected for this investigation, which is Benzene. A laser interferometer known as Mach Zhender Interferometer (MZI) is constructed and used to measure the refractive index of the investigated solvent by counting the interfering fringes as a function of the angle of incidence of the incident laser beam. The temperature of that solvent is raised within the range 293-373 K by using a constructed heating system. The thermal behavior of the refractive index of Benzene is studied to estimate the thermo-optical coefficient of the refractive index, which is important to know the state convergence or divergence of the pump laser beam within the laser dye medium. Also, the dielectric constant of the dye solution is an important parameter for the laser operation. Therefore the dielectric constant and its thermal behavior of Benzene are calculated through the Maxwell’s relation to determine the thermal coefficient of the dielectric constant. The value of the number density which is equal the specific polarizability of the investigated solvent is estimated by using the obtained values of the refractive index and its variation with the temperature is studied too. Because the dependence of the mean polarizability of the dielectric constant through the Clausius-Mossotti relation the values of both mean polarizability and its thermal behavior are studied. In addition, since the molecular polarizability depends on the mean polarizability the value of it is determined. By using the values of mean polarizability the molecule radius is determined and using the Clausius-Mossotti relation the actual volume occupied by all molecules per unit volume are estimated. The volume expansion, through Murphy and Albert equation is calculated.

Multiphoton ionization of jet-cooled nickelocene with tunable nanosecond laser pulses

Abstract Efficient multiphoton ionization of nickelocene molecules in a supersonically cooled molecular beam has been performed for the first time with a nanosecond tunable dye laser operating in the 35,000-cm−1 region which corresponds to the lowest Rydberg transition observed in the one-photon absorption spectrum. The time-of-flight mass spectra obtained show strong signals of intact molecular ions Cp2Ni+ (Cp=η5-C5H5) and weaker peaks of fragment ions CpNi+. The conditions have been found for generation of Cp2Ni+ as the only ionic product of multiphoton excitation. The ion signal dependence on the laser intensity and the resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectrum measured at the mass of Cp2Ni+ testify for saturation of absorption and/or ionization steps at the laser pulse intensities used (2–6 MW cm−2). Possible mechanisms of multiphoton processes resulting in formation of the ions observed are discussed.

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation spectroscopy of jet-cooled bis(η 6-benzene)chromium

The molecules of bis(η 6-benzene)chromium cooled in a supersonic jet are ionised efficiently by nanosecond pulses of a tuneable dye laser operating in the region of the 3d z 2 →R4p x, y Rydberg transition (26 600–27 100 cm −1). The mass spectra reveal a surprisingly strong signal from the intact molecular ions. The yield of the molecular ions increases in a two-colour experiment. The resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation (REMPI) spectra reveal two vibronic components of the Rydberg transition at 26 754 and 27 017 cm −1. The distance between these peaks (263 cm −1) corresponds to the frequency of the symmetric metal–benzene stretch in the Rydberg state.

Wide-Wavelength-Range Operation of a Distributed-Feedback Dye Laser with a Plastic Waveguide

A compact distributed-feedback (DFB) dye laser with a plastic waveguide was developed. The DFB operation was attained by the interference of two pumping beams from a frequency-doubled pulsed Nd:YAG laser, and a wavelength range between 560 nm and 994 nm was continuously covered. The dye chip can instantaneously exchanged in any spectrum region. The threshold energy was decreased to the order of 100 µJ with the waveguide configuration. The maximum life of the dye chip was 106 shots.

Frequency upconversion involving triads and quartets of ions in a Pr3+/Nd3+ codoped fluoroindate glass

Frequency upconversion (UC) processes involving energy transfer (ET) among Nd3+ and Pr3+ ions in a fluoroindate glass are reported. In a first experiment, the excitation of Pr3+ [transition H34→D32] and of Nd3+ [transition I49/2→(G27/2+G45/2)] was achieved with a dye laser operating in the 575–590 nm range. In a second experiment, the Nd3+ ions were excited with the second harmonic of a Nd: YAG laser at 532 nm. The ET processes leading to UC in both experiments were studied by monitoring the blue fluorescence decay at 480 nm due to the transition P30→H34 in Pr3+. In the more relevant UC process, quartets of ions (Nd–Nd–Pr–Pr) are excited due to absorption of three laser photons by two Nd3+ ions which transfer their energy to two Pr3+ ions. Each Pr3+ ion promoted to the P30 level decays to the ground state emitting one photon in the blue region. This conclusion was achieved investigating the dependence of the UC fluorescence intensity as a function of laser intensity, samples concentrations, and temporal behavior of the UC signal. Other UC processes involving nonisoionic groups of three ions are also reported.

High 2s 2np Rydberg series and ionization energy of B I

We have used double-resonance excitation of a laser-vaporized sample of atomic boron to measure the energies of np Rydberg states from n∼35 to 70, to a precision of ±0.02 cm −1 . The 2s 23s state was excited resonantly using light at 249 nm from a frequency-doubled narrowband pulsed dye laser; subsequently, 2s 2 np Rydberg states were excited using a second frequency-doubled dye laser operating between 375 and 372 nm . Energy calibration of the spectrum was done by comparison to the laser-induced fluorescence spectrum of molecular iodine. The Rydberg spectrum was fit to a simple Rydberg formula with excellent agreement, yielding a quantum defect of μ=0.527±0.002 and an ionization energy relative to the 2s 23s intermediate state of I(2 s 23 s)=26,888.38±0.02 cm −1 . Taken together with the previously determined best value for the energy of the 2s 23s state, we determine the ionization energy of the ground state to be 66,928.06±0.03 cm −1 , in agreement with the best previous results, but with an uncertainty which is more than a factor of three smaller.