my dye laser project [ pic heavy ]

[Bluefan]

That's quite a big project you're starting, but definately interesting! What kind of pump laser do you have? You'll probably need a few watts to get above threshold. Does this laser use a dye jet or a cuvette?

Be careful with the dyes and their solutions, they can be quite toxic. Probably the main reason why I don't plan to get my dye laser running.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

Why do they use an argon to pump it at 514 and not a frequency doubled dpss?

Also, pics show a cuvette, right?

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

That's quite a big project you're starting, but definately interesting! What kind of pump laser do you have? You'll probably need a few watts to get above threshold. Does this laser use a dye jet or a cuvette?

Be careful with the dyes and their solutions, they can be quite toxic. Probably the main reason why I don't plan to get my dye laser running.

I will be using a 0.5W DPSS, not ideal but it will do for now (it's all i can afford). I will likely end up selling it and getting a higher power.

methanol - http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927227

ethylene glycol - http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927167

rhodamine 6g - http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927579

yeah, all around nasty stuff.

Why do they use an argon to pump it at 514 and not a frequency doubled dpss?

Also, pics show a cuvette, right?

This laser is 22 years old, DPSS was significantly less feasible then.

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

A quick update:

I got my pump laser last Friday.

It's a 750mW, however the beam isn't perfect. The coherent rep i talked to said i could expect ~5% efficiency which is piss poor. I will probably end up selling it and getting a laser with some better beam specs down the road.

^my labby with some of Ash's portables

 

[millirad]

Not a bad looking beam shot though. Just not tem00. Someone will take it off your hands.

 

[Bluefan]

Beam quality is very important, with a good beam the efficiency will be far higher. But apparently dye laser also can have with a rather low threshold:
IEEE Xplore - Sign In
If diodes can pump one a mostly TEM00 DPSS will do even better. Of course not all dye lasers are created equal.

 

[532 with Envy]

This all looks like a lot of fun! I'v always been curious how these really worked....looking forward to a video. I'm also surprised that they are pumped by an Argon, for some reason I thought they would be pumped by a nitrogen laser.

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more!

 

[Bluefan]

For CW use they can be pumped by an argon laser or a 532nm DPSS. Pulsed dye lasers can be pumped by a flashlamp, nitrogen laser, doubled or tripled YAG. Lots of choices.

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

Another update:

I took some power graphs

first 15 minutes:

A 10 minute graph after it had been on for some time:

After some warm up it does appear to be TEM00 though it has a parallel beam.

 

[ARG]

Wow! That's pretty stable for a DPSS laser!

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

A quick update:

I made my first attempt at running the laser.

I poured 750ml of ethylene glycol into the reservoir. After that, the reservoir promptly emptied all over the garage floor.:banghead:

That part connects the reservoir to the pump motor. It was damaged in shipping and was just sitting in the pump socket.

I'll make a second attempt when the replacement parts arrive.

 

[Sigurthr]

Careful if you have any animals (pets) near by. EG tastes and smells sweet but is toxic unlike it's cousin propylene glycol.

 

[Gryphon]

Thats a bummer, i hope you can get it all buttoned up, id love to see what this unit is capable of.

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

I got the needed parts in the mail today.

Here is where the connector snapped.

I got the new hose in place.

And finally moved the utility module to better accommodate any unforeseen complications.

I'm getting more gloves tomorrow, then I'll make attempt #2.

 

[TheTeslaWarrior]

I have achieved yellow light!

Unfortunately this thing would still be more effective as a sieve and no lasing to report yet.

 

[Bluefan]

How did you align the green laser? It should overlap with the cavity mode which requires a good and stable alignment.