High-efficiency pyrromethene doped solid-state dye lasers

Abstract

Successful laser oscillation of various pyrromethene dyes doped in a modified acrylic plastic has been achieved. Pumped with a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm, a slope efficiency of 85% has been obtained from one of the dyes in plastic, with an output beam energy of 128 mJ. A useful lifetime of greater than 20 000 shots at 3.33 Hz with output energies above 30 mJ has been demonstrated, with only a 34% loss in the available output energy.