Laser dyes are dyes used as
laser medium
The active laser medium (also called gain medium or lasing medium) is the source of optical gain within a laser. The gain results from the stimulated emission of photons through electronic or molecular transitions to a lower energy state from a h ...
in a
dye laser
A dye laser is a laser that uses an organic dye as the lasing medium, usually as a liquid solution. Compared to gases and most solid state lasing media, a dye can usually be used for a much wider range of wavelengths, often spanning 50 to 100 ...
. Laser dyes include the coumarins and the rhodamines. Coumarin dyes emit in the green region of the spectrum, whereas rhodamine dyes are used for emission in the yellow-red. The color emitted by the laser dyes depend upon the surrounding medium i.e.the medium in which they are dissolved. However, there are dozens of laser dyes that can be used to span continuously the emission spectrum from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared.
[F. J. Duarte, ''Tunable Laser Optics'' (Elsevier-Academic, New York, 2003) Appendix of Laser Dyes (includes more than 50 laser dyes)]
Laser dyes are also used to dope solid-state matrices, such as
poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and
ORMOSILs, to provide gain media for
solid state dye lasers Solid-state dye lasers (SSDL) were introduced in 1967 by Soffer and McFarland. In these solid-state lasers, the gain medium is a laser dye-doped organic matrix such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), rather than a liquid solution of the dye. An ...
.
[
]
Partial list of laser dyes
*Coumarin
Coumarin () or 2''H''-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula . Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by a lactone-like chain , forming a second six-membered h ...
s (in various nomenclatures such as Coumarin 480, 490, 504, 521, 504T, 521T)[
*]Fluorescein
Fluorescein is an organic compound and dye based on the xanthene tricyclic structural motif, formally belonging to triarylmethine dyes family. It is available as a dark orange/red powder slightly soluble in water and alcohol. It is widely used ...
* polyphenyl ("polyphenyl 1")[
S. C. Guggenheimer, A. B. Petersen]
"High Power Operation of a CW Ultraviolet Dye Laser"
"Prior to 1988, only one laser dye, polyphenyl 1, had been shown to operate CW at wavelengths less than 400 nm."
*Rhodamine 6G
Rhodamine 6G is a highly fluorescent rhodamine family dye. It is often used as a tracer dye within water to determine the rate and direction of flow and transport. Rhodamine dyes fluoresce and can thus be detected easily and inexpensively with ...
*Rhodamine B
Rhodamine B is a chemical compound and a dye. It is often used as a tracer dye within water to determine the rate and direction of flow and transport. Rhodamine dyes fluoresce and can thus be detected easily and inexpensively with fluorometers.
...
*Rhodamine 123
Rhodamine 123 is a chemical compound and a dye. It is often used as a tracer dye within water to determine the rate and direction of flow and transport. Rhodamine dyes fluoresce and can thus be detected easily and inexpensively with instrument ...
*Umbelliferone
Umbelliferone, also known as 7-hydroxycoumarin, hydrangine, skimmetine, and ''beta''-umbelliferone, is a natural product of the coumarin family.
It absorbs ultraviolet light strongly at several wavelengths. There are some indications that this ch ...
(also known as 7-hydroxycoumarin)
See also
*Dye laser
A dye laser is a laser that uses an organic dye as the lasing medium, usually as a liquid solution. Compared to gases and most solid state lasing media, a dye can usually be used for a much wider range of wavelengths, often spanning 50 to 100 ...
*Organic laser
Organic lasers use an organic (carbon based) material as the gain medium. The first organic laser was the liquid dye laser. These lasers use laser dye solutions as their gain media.
Organic lasers are inherently tunable and when configured as o ...
*Solid state dye lasers Solid-state dye lasers (SSDL) were introduced in 1967 by Soffer and McFarland. In these solid-state lasers, the gain medium is a laser dye-doped organic matrix such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), rather than a liquid solution of the dye. An ...
References
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Laser gain media