Abstract
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-μsec 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.
© 1989 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Zsolt Bor, Zoltan Gogolak, and Gabor Szabo
Opt. Lett. 14(16) 862-864 (1989)
C. C. Williams and H. K. Wickramasinghe
Opt. Lett. 14(11) 542-544 (1989)
J. M. Martin Rios, H. L. Fragnito, and A. Kiel
Opt. Lett. 14(22) 1263-1265 (1989)