DYE help

[Jim H]

CW dye lasers are a lot of hard work to get operational. Do you have an appropriate high-pressure circulator and nozzle? You may or may not be able to use a different dye depending on the installed optics; Ideally you'd want to use R6G and hit it with as much 532nm light as you can.

Also, be prepared to have neon stains on everything.

Yep, got the circulator which works. After removing a piece of something in the nozzle, it seems to have a good flat and steady flow. There was actually a little dye in it when I got it, but who knows how old it was. Not sure about the optics, but the sticker says it can operate between 454 nm and 1 micron.

 

[hakzaw1]

time to google dye laser.
I am like the rest of the 99% here who are clueless what these are..

len

update
well a quick read got me more questions than answers..

there is this

Dye lasers are used in many applications includingye laser - Wikipedia
astronomy (as laser guide stars ),
atomic vapor laser isotope separation
manufacturing
medicine
spectroscopy

i 'get/can buy ' all of the above except astronomy.

^^ I think that is not 'star pointing' as i know it.

good thread all the same

 

[Jim H]

time to google dye laser.
I am like the rest of the 99% here who are clueless what these are..

len

update
well a quick read got me more questions than answers..

there is this

Dye lasers are used in many applications includingye laser - Wikipedia
astronomy (as laser guide stars ),
atomic vapor laser isotope separation
manufacturing
medicine
spectroscopy

i 'get/can buy ' all of the above except astronomy.

^^ I think that is not 'star pointing' as i know it.

good thread all the same

I think a laser guide star is to measure atmospheric turbulence so that telescope with adaptive optics can adjust for the least distortion.

 

[Jim H]

Well, anyone looking for dye, don't use Sigma-Aldrich , as they won't sell it to you... Santa Cruz Biotechnology on the other hand will, although are a bit more expensive. I take back that statement. They do not ship to a residential address either. Chemsavers is the only place I finally was able to actually order dye from. I called and spoke with them, and all is good. So for those having a difficult time getting dye, try them. The dye I wanted wasn't listed, but they can get it for me.

 

[Jim H]

CW dye lasers are a lot of hard work to get operational. Do you have an appropriate high-pressure circulator and nozzle? You may or may not be able to use a different dye depending on the installed optics; Ideally you'd want to use R6G and hit it with as much 532nm light as you can.

Also, be prepared to have neon stains on everything.

I just found an old ad for it, stating it will tune from 540 nm to 960 nm. It has been difficult to track down any info on it, even from Lexel. i did find a patent, which I assume is for this laser, which has a lot of info and covers a lot of options for it, such as easy conversion from linear to ring configuration, space for various elements in the beam path within the case such as frequency doublers, beam combiners, etc

 

[Jim H]

Cool to find an old ad for it!

 

[H2Oxide]

I just found an old ad for it, stating it will tune from 540 nm to 960 nm. It has been difficult to track down any info on it, even from Lexel. i did find a patent, which I assume is for this laser, which has a lot of info and covers a lot of options for it, such as easy conversion from linear to ring configuration, space for various elements in the beam path within the case such as frequency doublers, beam combiners, etc

Nice, assuming the optics haven't been replaced it looks like you should be good to run pretty much whatever long-wavelength dye you want. I'm not familiar with Lexel models, but if it has primary focusing optics you're going to want to keep that in mind as well, as it will determine the range of wavelengths you can pump it with. Most multiline argon optics should be able handle everything from at least the lower ~450nm bands to the 514nm band, but I would do a low power test if you plan on using something outside this range like 405nm or 532nm. I would assume it would handle anything you plan on throwing at it, but some dielectric mirrors can have extremely sharp drops in reflectivity if you get outside the range they were designed for.

 

[Jim H]

Nice, assuming the optics haven't been replaced it looks like you should be good to run pretty much whatever long-wavelength dye you want. I'm not familiar with Lexel models, but if it has primary focusing optics you're going to want to keep that in mind as well, as it will determine the range of wavelengths you can pump it with. Most multiline argon optics should be able handle everything from at least the lower ~450nm bands to the 514nm band, but I would do a low power test if you plan on using something outside this range like 405nm or 532nm. I would assume it would handle anything you plan on throwing at it, but some dielectric mirrors can have extremely sharp drops in reflectivity if you get outside the range they were designed for.

You seem to know a bit about dye lasers, so how much of a problem might previous dye pose when I switch? Can 2 dyes coexist, with one being at a very low level? I know I should flush the old out as best as possible, but I wonder how easy it is to get it all out. It looks like the coumarin 515 will lase at around the absorption wavelength of the R6G.

 

[LSRFAQ]

Ah, the Manual your Looking for is a "Lexel Aurora" Which was a Lexel 295 Argon with a Dye Head just like that.
When I get home from work I'll see if I still have it in the stuff I rescued from the Lexel Factory Auction.

Basically the idea is get the get working with pure alcohol and a tiny bit of water, glycol, and surfactant. Once the jet is stable, you have a master, highly concentrated, solution that you add in drop by drop till you get just below maxium adsorption of the pump beam.

Now for the tough part, that is a birefringent tuner in there, so you have to adjust it to find the peak of the lasing range before major changes in alignment. That and there are a couple of different mirror sets to cover different ranges in the orange-yellow for different dyes.

The pump mirror is coated for all lines argon, and your best bet is a 532 nm DPSS green laser at three or more watts. Preferably more.

Steve

 

[LSRFAQ]

Ah, the Manual your Looking for is a "Lexel Aurora" Which was a Lexel 295 Argon with a Dye Head just like that.
When I get home from work I'll see if I still have it in the stuff I rescued from the Lexel Factory Auction.

Basically the idea is get the get working with pure alcohol and a tiny bit of water, glycol, and surfactant. Once the jet is stable, you have a master, highly concentrated, solution that you add in drop by drop till you get just below maxium adsorption of the pump beam.

Now for the tough part, that is a birefringent tuner in there, so you have to adjust it to find the peak of the lasing range before major changes in alignment. That and there are a couple of different mirror sets to cover different ranges in the orange-yellow for different dyes.

The pump mirror is coated for all lines argon, and your best bet is a 532 nm DPSS green laser at three or more watts. Preferably more.
One of my friends did all of 200 microwatts with 2.5 Watts of DPSS Green pump, so you need POWER. The PM focuses the beam into the jet, It wont reflect near UV worth a damn, so forget about 405 nm diodes.

I'm not sure a stack of 520 diodes would get you anywhere near the pump spot you need.

That is the standard dye head, they used it for the lab version, and also built into the Auroras, where it was installed right onto the resonator rods.

I've scrapped two of the Auroras long ago. Kiton Red, R6G, R590 Perchlorate were the dye options I remember. Exciton is still in business but under a different owner.

Steve

 

[Alaskan]

How much dye do you need?

Rhodamine 6G (C.I. 45160) - 1 gram - Laser Dye | eBay

1 gram of Rhodamine 6G. C.I. Number: 45160.

www.ebay.com

 

[LSRFAQ]

About 4-5 grams minimum if he gets it on the first go round. He still needs a big green DPSS or an All lines Argon doing say 4 Watts.
405 is out as a pump, not close enough to the lasing wavelength.

Steve

 

[Alaskan]

Techhood will sell a 10 watt 532 nm analog power controlled (0-5 VDC) DPSS for 3300 dollars and free shipping DHL, if you contact them directly.

 

[LSRFAQ]

His actual best bet is to find a University or Industrial lab near him, that has a working dye. Then go there and ask for help.
in 30 years of working with lasers, I can count on three fingers of one hand, the number of people I've met who got a ring dye going from scratch without the installation field service engineer giving them training.

 

[Jim H]

Ah, the Manual your Looking for is a "Lexel Aurora" Which was a Lexel 295 Argon with a Dye Head just like that.
When I get home from work I'll see if I still have it in the stuff I rescued from the Lexel Factory Auction.

Basically the idea is get the get working with pure alcohol and a tiny bit of water, glycol, and surfactant. Once the jet is stable, you have a master, highly concentrated, solution that you add in drop by drop till you get just below maxium adsorption of the pump beam.

Now for the tough part, that is a birefringent tuner in there, so you have to adjust it to find the peak of the lasing range before major changes in alignment. That and there are a couple of different mirror sets to cover different ranges in the orange-yellow for different dyes.

The pump mirror is coated for all lines argon, and your best bet is a 532 nm DPSS green laser at three or more watts. Preferably more.

Steve

Sure, burst my bubble, lol. But I need all the help I can get. I have already ordered coumarin 30 and ethylene glycol, because I knew the R6G wouldn't do well at 405 nm. But if the optics don't reflect 405 well, I may be sol with that dye. The range does overlap R6G at the low end. If I could get a copy of that manual, it would be awesome! I got a generic dye laser manual, which was better than nothing, but obviously not specific to my head.

 

[Jim H]

Techhood will sell a 10 watt 532 nm analog power controlled (0-5 VDC) DPSS for 3300 dollars and free shipping DHL, if you contact them directly.

Well, since I am only trying to get it working, to sell it easier, that is out of my price range as I would be paying more than I could sell my laser for.