Self-adaptive holographic solid-state dye laser

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a spatially adaptive holographic solid-state dye laser using a self-intersecting loop geometry. The gain medium was a solid matrix of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) doped with pyrromethene 650 (P650) and inverted by 532 nm radiation. A diffractive gain hologram was induced by self-intersection in the gain medium with an injected signal beam at 616 nm. The holographic laser attained threshold for an injected signal energy of 0.63 nJ and produced TEM00 output with adaptive correction of thermally induced aberration. A phase conjugate reflectivity greater than 37,000% was achieved. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.