Diode-pumped polymeric dye lasers operating at a pump power level of 10mW

Abstract

We present a low-threshold vertical-cavity dye laser that is pumped by an InGaN laser diode. This vertical-cavity laser has a $1.2\text{-}\mu \mathrm{m}$ -thick poly-$N$ -vinylcarbazole active layer doped with coumarin 540A. The threshold pump power depended on the dye concentration and showed the minimum value of $16\mathrm{mW}$ /pulse with the dye concentration of 4.0%. Single-mode laser action is attained at around $550\mathrm{nm}$ and the output intensity decreases to half of the initial value after the emission of $8\times {10}^5$ pulses. This concept helps to realize a highly compact dye laser that can be operated in the entire range of visible wavelengths.