Compression mechanism of subpicosecond pulses by malachite green dye in passively mode-locked rhodamine 6G/DODCl CW dye lasers

The pulse width compression effect of a malachite green (MG) dye upon subpicosecond pulses has been experimentally investigated in a CW passively mode-locked rhodamine 6G/DODCI dye laser. The pulse width reduces as MG concentration increases, and reaches 0.34 ps at
1.5 \times 10^{-6}
M. By adding the MG dye, good mode locking is achieved in a rather wide pumping-power range. A computer simulation of pulse growth has also been carried out by using simple rate equations, in which the fast-recovery component of loss due to the MG dye is taken into account. The simulated results can explain some experimental results qualitatively such as pulse width compression and pumping-power restriction. The pulse width compression results essentially from the fast recovery of cavity loss caused by the MG dye.