Stable doped hybrid sol-gel materials for solid-state dye laser

Abstract
Laser effects have been obtained with dye-doped hybrid xerogel samples prepared several years ago and stored in different “classical” conditions. Firstly, using the same configuration of the laser cavity as was used 4–5 years ago, we have obtained almost identical laser performances, and slope conversion efficiencies were measured up to 80% and operational lifetimes, with 1-mJ initial output energy and 10-Hz repetition rate of several hundred thousand pulses obtained. Secondly, we have introduced the new pyrromethene 605 dye into a hybrid xerogel matrix and obtained good laser performances similar to the rest of the pyrromethene family.