Dye laser picosecond convertor

The operation characteristics of a dye laser device designed for converting a fixed wavelength pump pulse emitted from a nanosecond non-mode lockable laser such as nitrogen, excimer laser into high-power picosecond laser pulses spectrally adjustable between 386 to 700 nm are presented. This device is made very compact, simple to operate, it produces a pulse-shortening factor greater than 100 (from 6 ns down to 50 - 80 ps) with a single stage. The spectral and time processes involved in this pulse shortening method are exposed with 2D-streak camera analysis and are discussed with a rate equation model.