Examination of temperature effects on the lasing characteristics of rhodamine cw dye lasers

Experimental investigations on the temperature dependence of fluorescence and lasing characteristics of cw circulating organic dye lasers, excited with the multimode output of an Argon laser, were carried out for Rhodamine B, Rhodamine 6G, and Rhodamine 110 laser solutions in ethylene glycol. Significant improvements in the performance of Rhodamine B were observed as the solvent temperature was reduced below room temperature. These included significant reduction in the threshold pump requirements and a considerable increase in the attainable output power. This is in contrast to the results obtained for Rhodamine 6G and Rhodamine 110. Analysis of the results permit classification of dye lasers into three categories in so far as effects of cooling are concerned.