TUNABLE SUB-100 FEMTOSECOND DYE-LASER PULSES GENERATED WITH A NANOSECOND PULSED PUMPING

Subpicosecond pulses at a fixed wavelength produced with a low-Q cavity dye laser pumped by a single, nanosecond laser (Q-switched Nd:YAG) are converted into tunable high-power sub-100 femtosecond pulses by generation, spectral selection, amplification and compression of a supercontinuum. The tunable, chirped, high-energy pulses obtained are compressed with a prism pair. Energies up to 50 muJ in sub-100 fs pulses were obtained in the 540 to 650 nm range using 40 mJ of the Nd:YAG-laser pumping pulses at 532 nm. The whole sub-100 fs system including the low-Q dye laser uses only one Nd:YAG laser as a pump source.