Linear Pressure Tuning of a Multielement Dye Laser Spectrometer

Construction details and operating characteristics are given for a narrowband pulsed dye laser system, pumped by a nitrogen laser, that offers very linear reproducible frequency tuning over continuous ranges of 150 GHz and more, at a bandwidth down to 25 MHz. A diffraction grating in Littrow configuration, a tilted Fabry-Perot interferometer inside the cavity, and an optical external confocal filter interferometer are the wavelength-selective elements. Simultaneous scanning of these elements is accomplished without mechanically moving parts by changing the gas pressure in an enclosing chamber.