Gain studies of Coumarin 1 dye-doped polymer laser

Solid-state dye-doped polymer is an attractive alternative to the conventio nal liquid dye solution. In this paper, the laser characteristics of Coumar in 1 (C1)-doped polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) rods modified with ethyl alc ohol (EtOH) are studied under nitrogen laser excitation in a transverse pum ping configuration and the variation of gain of the dye in solid medium for different pumping powers are studied. The gain of Coumarin I in solid medi um is compared with the gain of Coumarin I in liquid medium and it is obser ved that the gain of the dyes in the solid environment is less than that in the liquid environment. The photobleaching of dye in polymer medium under nitrogen laser excitation is also studied by keeping the rod in a fixed pos ition and by rotating the rod about its cylindrical axis. It is observed th at the photobleaching rate is faster when the rod is in a fixed position. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.