Optical gain characterization of Perylene Red-doped PMMA for different pump configurations.

The optical gain is measured in Perylene Red (PR)-doped polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) slabs for copropagating and transverse pumping configurations based on a single-pass pump-probe method where a small signal is used as a probe beam. The gain is characterized in terms of the stimulated gain coefficient (g(S)) for both pump configurations. This material property determines the strength of pump absorption and coupling to the probe signal beam through stimulated emission. For copropagating pumping, g(S) was found to be (3.05±0.17)×10(-3) m/W for ∼0.05  mM PR-doped PMMA using a 633 nm probe laser, pumping with a 532 nm CW laser. For transverse pumping, g(S) was found to be (3.28±0.09)×10(-3)  m/W for a ∼0.15  mM sample. The small difference in the gain coefficient is attributed to the difference in concentration. The stimulated gain coefficient, a material property of the gain medium independent of the pump configuration and experimental setup, offers a useful and convenient way to characterize the optical gain for solid-state lasers or amplifiers.