Characterization of laser seeding by use of group-velocity dispersion in an atomic-vapor filter.

Abstract
A method for measuring laser seeding efficiencies by use of group-velocity dispersion has been developed. By tuning the laser near a resonance in an atomic-vapor filter it is possible to temporally decouple the seeded (narrow-band) light from the unseeded (broadband) light. We measured a seeding efficiency of 99.8% of the third harmonic of an injection-seeded Ti:sapphire laser. A model for the observed dispersion has been developed and tested. The group-velocity dispersion in the filter may also be used to chirp pulses for spectral analysis in the time domain.