Continuous-wave organic dye lasers and methods
An organic dye laser produces a continuous-wave (cw) output without any moving parts (e.g., without using flowing dye streams or spinning discs of solid-state dye media to prevent photobleaching) and with a pump beam that is stationary with respect to the organic dye medium. The laser's resonant cavity, organic dye medium, and pump beam are configured to excite a lasing transition over a time scale longer than the associated decay lifetimes in the organic dye medium without photobleaching the organic dye medium. Because the organic dye medium does not photobleach when operating in this manner, it may be pumped continuously so as to emit a cw output beam. In some examples, operation in this manner lowers the lasing threshold (e.g., to only a few Watts per square centimeter), thereby facilitating electrical pumping for cw operation.
- Research Organization:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577
- Assignee:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
- Patent Number(s):
- 8,837,550
- Application Number:
- 13/787,399
- OSTI ID:
- 1158927
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Army Solid State Laser Program: Design, Operation, and Mission Analysis for a Heat-Capacity Laser
CW organic dye laser