The
dye laser is an
optically pumped
laser, with
an
organic dye in a
liquid solvent as
the lasing
medium. It
consists of a
dye lasing
chamber
with a normal
mirror in one end and a
semitransparent
in the other. Since it is an
optically pumped
laser
it has an
external lightsource (usually a
xenon tube or an air
flash tube). When the
flash tube is triggered, the
photons
will
fly through the
liquid and
stimulate the
dye to
emit
photons . Some of these will be reflected by the mirrors, and
move back
through the
chamber. This stimulates further
emissions.
The light will eventually leave the
chamber through the
semitransparent
mirror as the
beam.
Simple buildup diagram of a dye laser:
From dye Flow-back
circulation to
pump liquid storage
||| |^|
Mirror|v| Reflector |||
| | ================== | |
|.--' `--------------------' `----.| Beam
|| laser chamber |::::::::::::::::::
|| |::::::::::::::::::
|`--------------------------------'|
Semitransparent
.---------------------. mirror
-| Xenon tube |-
`---------------------'
The
dye is rapidly broken
down from the lasing
proccess,
so a
circulation system is used to prolong the
possible lasing
time. This
system,
pumps in new
liquid from an
external
storage tank.
Due to the
need for
replenishment of the
dye liquid and the
need for an
external tank this
laser type is rather impractical,
compared with the
Laser diode, the
HeNe-laser and
the
Ion laser, and is
only used in
experiments. Most of
the
organic dyes used in this
laser type are toxic.
One
advantage with this
laser is that by
changing
the
dye used, you can get most
light frequencies.