High laser efficiency and photostability of pyrromethene dyes mediated by nonpolar solvent

Many pyrromethene (PM) dyes have been shown to outperform established rhodamine dyes in terms of laser efficiency in the green-yellow spectral region, but their rapid photochemical degradation in commonly used ethanol or methanol solvents continues to limit its use in high average power liquid dye lasers. A comparative study on narrowband laser efficiency and photostability of commercially available PM567 and PM597 dyes, using nonpolar n-heptane and 1,4-dioxane and polar ethanol solvents, was carried out by a constructed pulsed dye laser, pumped by the second harmonic (532 nm) radiation of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Interestingly, both nonpolar solvents showed a significantly higher laser photostability (∼100 times) as well as peak efficiency (∼5%) of these PM dyes in comparison to ethanol. The different photostability of the PM dyes was rationalized by determining their triplet-state spectra and capability to generate reactive singlet oxygen (O₂1) by energy transfer to dissolved oxygen in these solvents using pulse radiolysis. Heptane is identified as a promising solvent for these PM dyes for use in high average power dye lasers, pumped by copper vapor lasers or diode-pumped solid-state green lasers.