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Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801
So I've been wondering what kind of demos or displays I could do using fluorescent dyes, or even dye lasers.
The cheapest source of dyes I can figure are either fluorescein from yellow highlighters (likely impure), or alternatively the liquid portion of various coloured glowsticks prior to the glass vial being broken (mixture of dye, and the oxalate ester likely, maybe a few other compounds such as sensitizers) which would give me more colours. Now I'm aware that dyes have a lasing threshold, however does the stimulating light have to be monochromatic or coherent?
I've found a website that discusses the results of using highlighter dyes for lasing using a nitrogen laser, and a page about extractions using alcohols (although other solvents may be an alternative if accessible).
Highlighter dye laser: Extractions:
If the pump source can be non-coherent and/or non-monochromatic, could I theoretically pump the heck out of a vial of dye using high-power UV LED diodes?
Also, what other demonstrations would be cool to perform using a mixture of separated fluorescent dyes? Also any that would be particularly interesting towards kids, adults, and people with a curiosity for the sciences?
Registered Member #56
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:02AM
Location: Southern Califorina, USA
Posts: 2445
You could try, but you are going to need a few tens of KW worth of LEDs to get it to start lasing... I would stay stick with pulsed sources of UV radiation (flashlamps, n2 lasers, etc)
Registered Member #1497
Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801
Also for lasing to occur, do I not need a pair of aligned mirrors, one fully reflective and the other partially reflective for lasing to occur?
Here is a list of dyes or UV reactive substances I think would be applicable for demos at least: - Blue, green, yellow, red, orange dyes from glowsticks extracted and purified - Highlighter dyes - Powdered detergent - I could also (if I *really really* wanted to) order dyes such as rhodamines, or other fluorophores....... alot of money though.
Also, what about phosphorescence, how would that work out for demos?
Registered Member #1819
Joined: Thu Nov 20 2008, 04:05PM
Location:
Posts: 137
... wrote ...
You could try, but you are going to need a few tens of KW worth of LEDs to get it to start lasing... I would stay stick with pulsed sources of UV radiation (flashlamps, n2 lasers, etc)
I tried looking for flash tubes on Mouser, and I found that they only give off 30 to 50 W per flash. Apparently this works, or do I need a bigger flash tube / more flash tubes?
Registered Member #1134
Joined: Tue Nov 20 2007, 04:39PM
Location: Bonnie Scotland
Posts: 351
Pumping dye laser with anything other than another laser is notoriously difficult. The reason is that dye laser have a very short `singlet state` (where lasing can occur), after this the dye molecule enters the `triplet state` which absorbs the emitted radiation, and terminates laser action.
This necessitates the need for a VERY short and intense pumping pulse, and high purity dye solutions. Flashlamps for these lasers, run at many 10`s of kV to reduce the flash duration.
Pumping dyes with a Nitrogen laser , is by comparison, a walk in the park. The nitrogen lasers pulse duration is around 10ns, with a peak power of 100kW or more, for even small models. I have personally lased solutions made from fluorescent markers, and the dye used in washing detergents. Not only that,by pumping with a Nitrogen laser, high gain dyes like Rhodamine-6G and Fluorescein, will happily lase without mirrors! See here:
Going up in power, an Excimer laser will lase Tonic water, and certain brands of windscreen wash!
It is possible to lase a dye continuously, but not with any amount of incoherent light. Argon lasers in excess of 2W are used as the pump source, and to solve the triplet absorption problem, the dye solution is passed in front of the pump beam by means of a precision high pressure jet, at an incredible speed (fast enough for each dye molecule to be out of the way before it enters the triplet state).
I would go with building a Nitrogen laser, and using it to pump the dyes, it is a very rewarding experience.
Be advised that most linear laser flash lamps have the quartz envelope doped to absorb UV. In fact they fluoresce blue under UV. This may be bad for pumping dyes.
Registered Member #543
Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992
aonomus wrote ...
So I've been wondering what kind of demos or displays I could do using fluorescent dyes, or even dye lasers.
The cheapest source of dyes I can figure are either fluorescein from yellow highlighters (likely impure), or alternatively the liquid portion of various coloured glowsticks prior to the glass vial being broken (mixture of dye, and the oxalate ester likely, maybe a few other compounds such as sensitizers) which would give me more colours. Now I'm aware that dyes have a lasing threshold, however does the stimulating light have to be monochromatic or coherent?
Send me your address in a PM and I'll send you a few grammes each of Rhodamine and Rhodamine B
Registered Member #311
Joined: Sun Mar 12 2006, 08:28PM
Location:
Posts: 253
You can do some cool stuff with very weak solutions of fluorescent dyes and a blu-ray laser - intense visble beam in the liquid - add a few mirrors etc. & you get some very cool effects! Some dyes (oranges) also work with green lasers, but the blue one is much more impressive as the blue is much less visible compared to the colour that the dye fluoresces at.
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Fluorescence and dye laser experiment/demo ideas?
