Physics of dye lasers

Abstract

The physical mechanisms important to the operation of tunable lasers utilizing organic dyes are discussed. The uniqueness of organic dyes as a tunable laser medium is reviewed by investigating the optical properties of two broadened energy levels. The complete energy level system is investigated and gain and efficiency are calculated. The wide variety of practical laser configurations possible for optically pumped dye lasere are examined. New topics of interest such as dye vapor lasers and short pulse generation are discussed.