G. Ramosortiz et M. Villagranmuniz, PHOTOACOUSTIC MAPPING OF THE AMPLIFICATION REGION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A DYE-LASER AMPLIFIER, Review of scientific instruments, 67(12), 1996, pp. 4050-4056
Mapping of the amplification region and full characterization of a dye
laser amplifier by means of a photoacoustic technique are presented.
The acoustic signals generated in the pumped medium as a consequence o
f nonradiative transitions are gain dependent. We use the ratio betwee
n the acoustic signal measured when the oscillator beam passes through
the amplifier, to the acoustic signal when it is blocked, as a figure
of merit of an amplifier stage. By using the oscillator beam as a spa
tial probe of the amplifier gain region, it is possible to map the opt
ically inverted medium, assigning a photoacoustic ratio to each point
of the medium. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.