Tunable ultraviolet co-doped dye laser of Pyrromethene 597 and Rhodamine 610

The laser performance of Pyrromethene 597 (PM597) and Rhodamine 610 mixture is studied. A wide tuning range from 580 to 655 nm is achieved. The laser linewidth obtained is less than 0.1 nm. The highest conversion efficiency of 42.5% is obtained at 600 nm. Using a beta-BaB₂O₄ (BBO) crystal to frequency double the dye laser into ultraviolet (UV), a tuning range from 296 to 324 nm is obtained. The peak conversion efficiency from the dye laser to the UV laser is 9.7% and the highest UV laser output energy is 9.51 mJ at 301.25 nm. To the best of our knowledge, the tuning range and the conversion efficiency are the best under the same condition so far. All our results indicate that high laser performance can be achieved using a laser dyes' mixture. (paper)