Standard Configurations. There are many dye laser configurations on the market, each with its own advantages and advocates. Many models are designed for use with a specific type of pump source, but some can accept different types of pulsed lasers. The major configurations offered commercially are

• Coaxial-flashlamp-pumped, in which the dye cell is in the central bore of a coaxial flashtube, as shown in Fig. 17.4

• Linear-flashlamp-pumped, in which the dye cell is in the same reflective cavity as a linear flash tube

• Nitrogen-laser-pumped, sometimes in a compact, integrated package

• Excimer-laser-pumped, often with the 308-nm output of xenon chloride, which offers the best combination of long excimer lifetime and limited dye degradation, but sometimes with other lines

• Pulsed-neodymium-YAG-pumped, with the 532-nm second harmonic, the 355-nm third harmonic, or for some infrared dye YAG s 1.06- ?m fundamental wavelength in the near-infrared

• Pulsed-laser-pumped, in a version designed to accept YAG, excimer, or nitrogen pumping

• Copper-vapor-pumped, similar to other types pumped with pulsed lasers, but designed to operate at higher repetition rates and average powers, with pump lines in the green and yellow

• Continuous-wave, pumped with an ion laser (usually argon but sometimes krypton) or a neodymium laser, using a linear, folded, or ring cavity

• Synchronously pumped with a modelocked ion or doubled neodymium laser

• Colliding-pulse modelocked lasers, with ring cavities, which generate ultrafast pulses in the 100-fs range

• Hybrid modelocked lasers, in which the more intense parts of a modelocked pulse are preferentially amplified, shortening the pulse