Narrow linewidth operation of solid state dye laser based on sol-gel silica

Narrow linewidth laser action was achieved in dye-doped sol-gel derived silica slabs. Using a double grating resonator cavity, one grating serving as the beam expander and the other for tuning, laser output with Linewidth as narrow as 3.3 GHz was realized for dye-doped sol-gel silica slabs. The output wavelengths were 560 nm, 474 nm and 378 nm respectively for rhodamine 6G-, Coumarin 460-, Exalite 377-doped samples. Oscillatory laser waveform indicative of two or three longitudinal mode lasing was also observed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.