Multipulse operation of a high average power, good beam quality zig-zag dye MOPA

Summary form only given. A laser pumped zig-zag dye laser operating at 568 nm (Pryrromethene 567 in 60 PPH:40 ethanol solvent) with a pulse length -2 /spl mu/s has been scaled to high average power using a MOPA (master oscillator power amplifier) configuration. A key feature of the laser design is that it can convert relatively poor optical pump energy into very high-quality laser output efficiency of greater than 50%. When the oscillator alone was operated with optimized output coupling in a stable optical cavity configuration, output energies as high as 10 J with an intrinsic laser efficiency of 65% were achieved. This we believe is the highest laser efficiency reported for PM-567 operating in a liquid dye laser.