Service life of dye-impregnated polymer active laser elements at various energy densities and pump powers

The dependence of the rate of photodecomposition of the dye rhodamine 6G in polymer active elements on the average pump intensity was studied. The service life of such active elements pumped transversely with low-intensity (less than 1MW cm^–2) pump pulses was also investigated. When the average intensity was reduced below a certain value, the dye photodecomposition rate decreased significantly and the service life of the active elements rose strongly.