Polychromatic, flashlamp-pumped dye lasers

Techniques were investigated in an effort to accomplish two separate objectives with an unstable resonator flashlamp-pumped dye laser. First, the use of dye mixtures to determine whether laser action, at various visible wavelenghts, could be simultaneously achieved from the different molecular species. Secondly, an optical system appropriate for broadband wavelength tunability of the unstable resonator laser was devised. Results showed that polychromatic laser radiation from dye mixtures has limited feasibility at least with presently available dyes. However, simultaneous blue-green and orange laser radiation was obtained with a coumarin-rhodamine mixture. A continuous timing range of over 30 nm was efficiently achieved using a single-stage, rotatory dispersive intracavity filter with rhodamine 6G.