Tunable Solid-state Dye Laser Research Articles

Design and construction of tunable solid-state dye laser pumped by flashlamp

Over the past six decades, dye laser technology has improved substantially. The usage of solid matrices containing laser dyes is becoming more and more popular as a viable substitute for the traditional liquid dye solutions. In this research, we designed and built a tunable solid dye laser device which consists of three main parts. (i) The active material producing the laser beam, which is a polymer rod [glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) polymer] doped with the laser dyes pyrromethene 597 (PM-597) or Nile blue (Nb-690). (ii) The pumping source is xenon linear flashlamp driven by a homemade power supply. (iii) Two broadband mirrors providing the optical feedback stable optical resonator. The properties of the gain medium and hence the laser emission characteristics were determined, and the results showed the efficiency of the homemade tunable solid dye laser device, that is suitable for a variety of applications.

Two-Directional Tuning of Distributed Feedback Film Dye Laser Devices.

We demonstrate a two-directional tuning method of distributed feedback (DFB) film dye laser devices to achieve high quality lasing and a large tuning range. In this work, we proposed a simple method to fabricate a continuous tunable solid-state dye laser on a flexible Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film. In order to obtain stable and tunable output lasing, the stretching property of the gelatine host was improved by mixing with a certain ratio of glycerol to prevent DFB cavity destruction. We employed two different tuning strategies of the DFB film dye lasers, by stretching the PDMS film in two perpendicular directions, and a nearly 40 nm tuning range in each direction was achieved. The laser device maintained single mode lasing with 0.12 nm linewidth during the tuning process. The reported tunable DFB film dye laser devices have huge potential as coherent light sources for sensing and spectroscopy applications.

Energy transfer mechanisms among various laser dyes co-doped into gel glasses

Abstract Various dyes mixtures consisting of perylene red (P-red), pyrromethene 567 (PM567) and coumarin dyes are incorporated into vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES)-derived gel glasses, respectively. Energy transfer processes among dyes are investigated by measuring the time-resolved and steady-state emission spectra, and fluorescence lifetime of each dye. The energy transfer mechanisms are discussed with 4 categories of dye pairs and extended fluorescence lifetime of PM567 and P-red are observed. The radiative and non-radiative nature of the energy transfer processes and their dependence on the donor dye concentration are estimated, paving the way for highly efficient, stable and broadly tunable solid-state dye laser materials.

High-power solid-state cw dye laser

In the present paper we describe a high-power tunable solid-state dye laser setup that offers peak output power up to 800 mW around 575 nm with excellent long-time power stability and low noise level. The spectral width of the laser emission is less than 3 GHz and can be tuned over more than 30 nm. A nearly circular mode profile is achieved with an M(2) better than 1.4. The device can be integrated in a compact housing (dimensions are 60 × 40 × 20 cm(3)). The limitation of long-time power stability is mainly given by photo decomposition of organic dye molecules. These processes are analyzed in detail via spatially resolved micro-imaging and spectroscopic studies.

High pulse energy output from tunable solid-state dye laser based on MPMMA doped with PM567

Tunable solid-state dye laser sample based on modified polymethyl methacrylate (MPMMA) with methanol co-doped with pyrromethene 567 (PM567) and Coumarin 440 (C440) was prepared. Tunable dye laser output wavelength from 546 to 594 nm was obtained in an oscillator-amplifier configuration. With the input seed laser energy being about 1.5 mJ, the highest dye laser output energy reached 113.9 mJ, and the corresponding conversion slope efficiency was 51.39%. To the best of our knowledge, the tuning range and narrow linewidth dye output energy is the best under the same condition so far. The linewidth for the seed laser and amplified laser were measured with the result of less than 0.2 nm. With the amplified medium being pumped at a repetition rate of 10 Hz with a pulse energy as high as 120 mJ (the fluence was 0.42 J/cm2), the laser output energy dropped to half of its initial value after approximate 43000 pulses.

Investigation of broadband solid state dye laser based on PM580 doped PMMA

As solid-state dye lasers exhibit the attractive features of compactness， being intoxic, and low cost, the development of tunable solid-state dye lasers is an area of active research. Solid state dyes based on polymethyl methacylate (PMMA) doped with new high efficiency pyrromethene-580 were prepared. First, the absorption and fluorescence of the samples were obtained. Pumped by the second harmonic of Q switched Nd:YAG laser, the output characteristics of the solid state dye lasers with different dye concentrations were studied. The central wavelength of the lasing emission peak increases with increasing dye concentration. The slope efficiencies of the samples were also obtained. The highest slope efficiency of 53.8% was obtained with dye concentration of about 2×10－4 mol/L. Pumped at 410mJ, the pulse energy of the solid dye laser reached 220mJ with the band width～8nm.

Properties of improved polymer host solid-state dye laser

The solid-state dye laser exhibits attractive features such as free from pollution, compact in structure and low-cost, the development of tunable solid-state dye lasers is an area of active research. PMMA is a popular host for solid-state dyes. When ethanol was added to PMMA, the host can have some improved properties. In the present paper,research results or the transmission spectra, laser spectra, fluorescence spectra and slope efficiency of the polymer dye lasers are presented. When ethanol concentration is 15%, the polymer has the highest transmission rate in 600—750 nm region. Ethanol has a slight impact on the fluorescence spectra. The bandwidth of laser spectra, of whicl the peak positions shift with the ethanol concentration, is about 7—9 nm FWHM. The relation of output energy versus input energy was also studied, and the experimental results confirmed the theoretical results. The highest slope efficiency attained in the experiment was 49.7% with the ethanol concentration of 15%.

Spectroscopic Applications of Integrated Tunable Solid-State Dye Laser

A novel type of tunable laser is developed that integrates dye-doped plastics laser waveguides with a distributed feedback structure. The waveguide matrix is dye doped poly-hydroxyethylmethacrylate:methylmethacrylate, and a single-mode waveguide is achieved by refractive index control. The wavelength coverage is over 560-1100 nm using a frequency doubled Nd:YAG microchip laser. The miniaturizing of the optical-pumped solid-state dye laser extended the lifetime to more than million shots and decreased the required laser threshold energy to less than 1 $mUJ. Novel type spectroscopic applications using the multiple wavelength laser array chip are also proposed and demonstrated.

Tunable Solid-State Dye Laser with Narrow Linewidth Operation

Tunable radiation with a linewidth of 0.014 nm was obtained in Rhodamine B,Rhodamine 6G, Perylene orange and Pyrromethene 567-doped GPTMSsolid-state dye materials using intracavity grating dispersiveoscillation. The solid dye samples were specially designed in theway in which they are gelling, drying and ageing between twoanti-reflection coateddisks, thus without any mechanical and optical processing. Theconversion efficiency of 4.6% and the tunable range of 40 nm from 589-629 nmhave been achieved in Rhodamine B-doped samples. The broadband lasing of4.4 nm and 54% slope efficiency were also demonstrated in theexperiment.

Polymeric solid‐state dye lasers

Solid matrices containing laser dyes have been used to produce practical tunable solid state dye lasers with advantages such as compactness, manageability, lack of toxicity and flammablity etc. Polymer matrices have suffered in the past from limited photostability. Recently, polymeric materials with a laser‐damage threshold comparable to that of inorganic glasses and crystals have renewed activity in the field. Progress is reviewed.

Photoluminescence of plasma polymerized methyl methacrylate films

The photoluminescence properties of plasma polymerized methyl methacrylate films are investigated. The photoluminescence is a fluorescence rather than a phosphorescence process with a lifetime on the order of a few nanoseconds. The photoluminescence is a one-photon volume effect. The wavelength span of the photoluminescence using suitable UV excitation can reach over 300 nm with a FWHM exceeding 200 nm. These photoluminescent films may find potential applications in wavelength transformers for solar cells or as a gain medium for tunable solid-state dye lasers.