Rhodamine 6G laser pumped by cathodoluminescence

Cathodoluminescence from a CdS crystal, generated by the action of high-power short-duration electron beam pulses was used to pump a rhodamine 6G (R6G) laser. Measurements were made of the energy spectrum of the electrons in the beam exciting the CdS crystal, of the cathodoluminescence spectrum of CdS, of the absorption and emission spectra of the dye, and also of the time characteristics of the cathodoluminescence and of the dye laser radiation. When the electron beam incident on the crystal was characterized by a current of 500 A and duration 8 nsec at halfheight, the radiation pulses emitted by R6G had an energy of ~ 1 mJ and the efficiency of generation of these pulses was ~0.3%.