Page 209 - Tunable Lasers Handbook

5 Dye Lasers 187
TABLE 1 1 Excitation Lasers of cw Dye Lasers

Laser Transitiona Wavelength (nm) Powerb (W)
528.69 1.5
514.53 10.0
501.72 1 .s
496.51 2.5
487.99 7.0
476.49 2.8
472.69 1.2
465.79 0.75
457.93 1.4
4.54.50 1 .o
799.32 0.1
752.55 0.35
676.4 0.2
5p4p;. - .5s2P,,, 647.09 1.4
.5p4Do, - 5S2P,,? 568.19 0.53
5p4P9: - 5s4Px,i 530.87 0.7
5p4PQ1 5S4P,,> 520.83 0.25
-
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~
OTransition identification from [SO].
hAr+ laser power from [3] and Kr+ laser powers from [81]

Given the relatively long cavity length of these lasers (typically -1 m), and
their narrow beamwaists (-1 mm), the output beam characteristics are excellent.
In this regard these 1a.sers can offer single-transverse-mode outputs and beam
divergence’s approaching the diffraction limit.
In addition to the output powers listed in Table 11, higher powers are avail-
able. For instance, Baving et al. [82] reports the use of a 200-W multiwave-
length A@ laser in the excitation of a linear cw dye laser. The Ar+ laser oscillated
simultaneously at 457.93, 476.49,487.99,496.51, 501.72, and 514.53 nm. Other
lasers useful in the excitation of cw dye lasers include HeNe [83,84], frequency-
doubled cw Nd:YAG [3], and semiconductor lasers.

4.2 cw Dye Laser Cavities
The cw dye laser cavities evolved from the simple and compact linear cavity
first demonstrated by Peterson et al. [85]. External mirrors and intracavity tuning
prisms were introduced by Hercher and Pike [86] and Tuccio and Strome [25]
(Fig. 11). An important innovation in cw dye lasers was the introduction of the
dye jet [83]. Fast flow of the dye solution at speeds of a few m-s-1 is important