Optical Gain and Saturation Considerations of Organic Dyes

Abstract

A theoretical analysis of optical gain and saturation of organic dye lasers is presented. An analysis based on a solution o f the laser rate equations establishes a convenient method of optical gain measurement by internal fluorescence probing for low-gain system s, such as vapors of organic dyes. The concomitant limitations of high-gain system s (e.g. organic dyes in liquid solutions) of small-signal gain due to amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and problems associated with gain saturation at high signal inputs are discussed in detail.