Spectrally adjustable picosecond dye laser pulses generated with nanosecond nitrogen lasers

Basing on the spectrotemporal selection (STS) method, a dye laser device designed for converting a fixed-wavelength pump pulse emitted from a nanosecond nitrogen laser into picosecond laser pulse spectrally adjustable between 386 to 708 nm was presented. The particular advantages of pumping STS dye lasers with smooth pulse lasers are pulse shortening tunability and stabilization in producing picosecond dye laser pulses. The spectral and time processes involved in the picosecond dye laser devices were reviewed with a rate equation model.