Single-jet self-tunable subpicosecond dye laser

An experimental investigation was made of the feasibility of generating optical pulses of about 100 fs duration using a single-jet self-tunable linear dye laser. Pulses of 120, 130, and 80 fs duration were obtained at λ = 614, 660, and 600 nm, respectively. The best results were achieved using a mixture consisting of "soft" and "hard" saturable absorbers.