Efficient 510 → 578-nm conversion of emission of copper vapour lasers

The results of experiments on the 510 → 578-nm conversion of high-power radiation from a copper vapour laser (CVL) in a dye cell are presented. The use of the efficient laser dye Pyrromethane 597 (PM-597) made it possible to convert the 120-W CVL radiation (72 W at 510 nm + 48 W at 578 nm) into 102-W radiation at 578 nm, which is equivalent to a conversion efficiency of 85%. Photostability of the dye in various solvents is studied. The photostability (more than 45 GJ mole^-1) of PM-597 in n-heptane is found to be higher than that of Rh 6G in ethanol.