Measurement of the wave front of a pulsed dye laser using an integrated-optics sensor with 200-nsec temporal resolution.
We report the use of an integrated-optics wave-front measurement sensor to measure with 200-nsec temporal resolution the phase and intensity at the aperture of a high-power (3.5-MW peak power) flash-lamp-pumped pulsed dye laser. The measurements reveal large fluctuations of the dye-laser wave front during the 2-microsec duration of the laser pulse. The fluctuations and the resulting poor beam quality are attributed to inhomogeneous heating of the dye during the pulse. These high-temporal-resolution measurements, which are not possible with other state-of-the-art wave-front analyzers, explain the previously measured poor beam quality of the laser.
Rediker
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RH
Zollars
B G
BG
Lind
T A
TA
Hatch
R E
RE
Burke
B E
BE