Measurement of the short pulse saturation properties of ultraviolet dyes with the XeCl laser

Short pulse (∼ 2 ns) saturation properties at the XeCl wavelength of the UV dyes polyphenyl, BPBD, and BBQ show evidence of excited state absorption which could not be fully saturated. This may explain the difficulty in achieving very short pulses by passive mode locking of the excimer lasers. No evidence was found of photodessociation of the dye which could cause a long transmission recovery time.