One-, two-, and three-photon pumped lasing in a novel liquid dye salt system

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics Vol. 39; no. 8; pp. 1003 - 1008
• Main Authors: He, G.S., Helgeson, R., Lin, T.-C., Qingdong Zheng, Wudl, F., Prasad, P.N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-08-2003; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Biomedical optical imaging; Dye lasers; Electromagnetic wave absorption; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laser excitation; Laser materials; Lasers; Optical materials; Optical pulses; Optical pumping; Optics; Physics; Polymers and organics; Solids; Stimulated emission; Near field; Liquid lasers; Pulse width; Organic dye; Laser pumping; Dye lasers; Far field; Laser materials; Multi-photon processes; Sulfonates; Experimental study; Pyridinium compounds; Intensity distribution; Upconversion laser; Optical materials; Two-photon processes; Absorption spectra
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2003.814372

We report the observation of one-, two-, and three-photon pumped lasing in the same medium, a novel liquid dye salt system when excited by pulsed 0.532-, 1.06-, and /spl sim/1.49-/spl mu/m coherent radiation pulses, respectively. Since the gain medium is a liquid and not a solution, it contains a significantly higher effective dye concentration and, therefore, is highly suitable for multiphoton pumped lasing and optical power limiting applications. The lasing spectra, temporal waveforms, near- and far-field intensity distributions, and output/input efficiency were measured under the conditions of one-, two-, and three-photon pump configurations.