Potential and limitations of energy-transfer processes in pulsed and cw dye laser mixtures: comparison of theory and experiments.

A comprehensive energy-transfer dye laser (ETDL) simulation model and the premise on which it is based are examined and reviewed. The model permits theoretical predictions of the total transfer efficiency and hence identification of the appropriate mechanisms that are responsible for energy transfer as well as predicting fluorescence spectra of dye mixtures. Using concentration regimes that are generally applicable to laser action, we also show that the model is capable of predicting gain line shapes (and hence tunability) for pulsed ETDL's. An extension of the model also predicts the gain spectrum of cw laser-pumped ETDL's as a function of donor and acceptor concentrations, their spectral data, energytransfer parameters, pump power and wavelength, and dimensions of the active region. Model simulation results are checked against experimental results for pulsed and cw ETDL's with laser outputs in the visible and near-IR spectral regions. The results lead to a better and more detailed understanding of ETDL mec hanisms and the role that the triplet states play in these mechanisms.