Tunable, high-power, subpicosecond blue-green dye laser system with a two-stage dye amplifier

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1221 - 1227
• Main Authors: Sharp, T.E., Dane, C.B., Barber, D., Tittel, F.K., Wisoff, P.J., Szabo, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.05.1991; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Dye lasers; Exact sciences and technology; Fiber lasers; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Hybrid power systems; Laser mode locking; Lasers; Optical design; Optical pulse generation; Optics; Oscillators; Physics; Pulse amplifiers; Pulse compression methods; Synchronous generators; Tunable circuits and devices; Dye laser; Visible radiation; Subpicosecond; Mode locked laser; Superfluorescence; Tunable laser; Optical pulse; Amplifier laser
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/3.83380

A two-stage dye amplifier design has been developed to amplify tunable, blue-green, subpicosecond dye laser pulses which are generated from a hybrid synchronously mode-locked dye oscillator directly (800 fs) or shorter to 200 fs by a fiber compressor stage. This system has achieved single pulse energies of 2 mJ, with an amplified spontaneous emission content of less than 0.1%. Using 40 mJ of the third-harmonic output of an Nd:YAG regenerative amplifier to pump the dye amplifier system, these pulse energies represent an energy extraction efficiency of approximately 5%. The tunability, stability, and spatial and temporal quality of the output pulses from the system have also been characterized.< >