Influence of surfactants on a nonflowing dye laser

The effect of surfactants on the performance of pulsed, laser‐pumped, flowing dye lasers has been reported. The use of surfactants in a nonflowing dye cell permits remarkably improved performance in a laser that is much simpler and more compact. The characteristics of such a system are reported here. Solutions of the laser dye rhodamine 590 perchlorate in various solvents were studied. Up to 300% improvement in conversion efficiency was observed for solutions with surfactants. Operation of the laser with the ethylene glycol/sodium dodecyl sulfate solution demonstrated a consistent output of around 8.0 mJ at a repetition rate of 5 Hz. Preliminary results on the laser bandwidth, pulse width, energy stability, and conversion efficiency will be presented.