Photochemical effects in a high-power flashlamp-pumped laser utilizing solutions of rhodamine 6G in isopropyl alcohol

The energy and shape of the output pulses from flashlamp-pumped solutions of rhodamine 6G in isopropyl alcohol were investigated experimentally as a function of the serial number of a pulse. The output energy obtained on excitation via a glass filter first increased from one pulse to another and then began to fall. When the pump energy was 10 kJ per pulse, the output energy increased by a factor of 1.5–2 by the eighth pulse, whereas in the case of ethyl alcohol solutions the output energy fell monotonically to zero in four pulses. The stability of rhodamine 6G solutions in isopropyl alcohol exposed to light was an order of magnitude higher than in ethyl alcohol.