A new laser dye with potential for high stability and a broad band of lasing action: Perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic acid-bis-N,N'(2',6' xylidyl)diimide

We have obtained high gain lasing action from a dye in the calss of perylene-tetracarboxylic acid diimides. These dyes have been used in the past as microcrystalline pigments and more recently as molecularly dissolved fluors having both an orange absorption color and orange fluorescence. In dimethylformamide this dye absorbs with a main maximum at 527 nm, well coupled to the exciting radiation from a frequency-doubled YAG exciting laser. The dye lases primarily in the 0'→ 1″ satellite of the fluorescence band from 566-585 nm, with intermittent output pulses to 605 nm. While this dye overlaps the lasing bands of the rhodamine dyes, we believe that it may be considerably more stable than even Rhodamine 6G, the most stable of that class.