Dual wavelength and continuously variable polarization dye laser

The two resonator channel dye laser operating at dual wavelengths and with continuously variable polarization is reported. The grazing incidence prism beam expender is multilayer antireflection coated for the p-component, suppressing the -component. It is coupled with a Littrow mounted grating and this rotative wavelength selector is, as a whole, rotative with respect to the resonator optical axis. By rotating the p-plane of the rotative wavelength selector, the polarization of the resonance beam is made rotative continuously. As a beam divider, both a knife edge and a half mirror are used, and the former is found to be more useful because it gives rise to no power competition effect. It is observed that the degree of the power competition effect is dependent upon the cross angle of the polarizations of the two output beams when the half mirror is used as a beam divider.