TIME DEPENDENT EMISSION BEHAVIOR OF ORGANIC DYE SOLUTION LASERS

Abstract

The time-dependent gain characteristics of grating-tuned, flashlamp-pumped, organic dye solution lasers have been studied, and the tunable output of these lasers has been used to investigate the absorption and fluorescence spectra of diatomic and triatomic molecules. The time development of the gain for Rhodamine 6G in a narrow-band laser cavity appears to show the same features observed by others in nondispersive optical cavities, where this time development has been shown to be dependent on cavity Q. In a pulse with a full width at half-maximum of 15 \AA, the time to peak power for central wavelengths is on the order of 200 nsec shorter than the time to peak for wavelengths on the edges of the pulse spectrum. Interpretation of the time-dependent emission of tunable organic dye lasers will be presented, along with a report on some spectroscopic applications of these lasers.