Lasing images from two merging ink-doped ethanol droplets (size simila
r to 37 mu m), which were generated by modulation techniques and pumpe
d by nanosecond laser pulses, were photographed through a microscope.
By measuring the size difference of two adjacent droplets from the spe
ctral shifts of lasing peaks, we confirmed that mass transfer occurred
in the breakup process of the liquid jet. We observed lasing images f
rom merging droplets in a variety of patterns. Noteworthy among these
is the lasing from snowman-shaped droplets that are conjectured to ste
m from coupled modes with orbits around both droplets. (C) 1996 Optica
l Society of America.