A study of a forced mode locked CW dye laser

A forced mode locked dye laser system capable of ultra-short pulse formation is examined experimentally, and the magnitudes and relative timing of the dye pulse, the pumping pulse, and the fluorescence are measured. Significant fast inversion loss of the gain medium is noted, and, for normal mode locked operation, only one pulse is observed to circulate in the cavity. A simplified model of the operation of the dye laser, based on a recent theory by Haus, is presented, and is seen to reproduce the main features of the experiment.