Lasing and amplified luminescence kinetics for a distributed-feedback dye laser with subnanosecond pumping

The results are given of an experimental investigation of the kinetics of lasing and amplified spontaneous radiation in a distributed-feedback dye laser pumped by an atmospheric-pressure subnanosecond nitrogen laser (a TEA N₂ laser). The data obtained are used to identify more precisely the physical mechanism of the influence of the pump energy on the relative fraction of the amplified spontaneous radiation in the output from a distributed-feedback laser. A new method for obtaining single picosecond pulses in a distributed-feedback dye laser operated well above threshold is proposed and experimentally implemented using the amplified spontaneous radiation to "quench" the active-medium gain of the distributed-feedback laser after the first pulse in a pulse train had been formed.