Generation of blue-green 10 fs pulses using an excimer pumped dye amplifier

Abstract
We report the generation of <25 fs pulses in the blue-green spectral region at 450 and 500 nm, using a colliding-pulse-mode-locked laser combined with a two-stage excimer pumped dye amplifier and continuum generation. The blue-green pulses are compressed to 10 fs duration using an optical fiber with pairs of gratings and prisms for phase compensation.