Title :
Chirp control of a single-mode, good beam quality, zigzag dye laser
Author :
Mandl, A. ; Zavriyev, A. ; Klimek, D.E.
Author_Institution :
Syst. Div., Textron Defense Syst., Wilmington, MA, USA
fDate :
3/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We report a substantial reduction of frequency chirp of a single-mode laser-pumped zigzag dye laser. A linear optical cavity using counterpropagating orthogonally polarized waves was injection-seeded at 568 mn and operated with a laser output of about 1 J. The chirp was controlled by an intracavity Pockels cell that was configured to add optical density at a rate which counterbalanced the decrease in optical density due to dye-solvent heating during the ~1-μs laser pulse. Heterodyne measurements were used to determine that the bandwidth was near the transform limit and chirp rate of ~1 MHz/μs. The beam quality of the laser was measured at 10 Hz as 1.7 XDL
Keywords :
Pockels effect; chirp modulation; dye lasers; electro-optical modulation; laser beams; laser cavity resonators; laser modes; optical pumping; optical variables control; physical instrumentation control; 1 J; 1 mus; 10 Hz; 568 nm; bandwidth; chirp control; chirp rate; counterpropagating orthogonally polarized waves; dye-solvent heating; frequency chirp; good beam quality; heterodyne measurements; injection-seeding; intracavity Pockels cell; laser pulse; laser-pumped zigzag dye laser; linear optical cavity; optical density; single-mode; transform limit; zigzag dye laser; Bandwidth; Chirp; Frequency; Heating; Laser beams; Optical control; Optical mixing; Optical polarization; Optical pulses; Temperature control;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
