Killian, Thomas C.2009-06-042009-06-042004Gupta, Priya. "Pulsed dye laser for excitation of strontium." (2004) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17681">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17681</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/17681This thesis describes the construction and characterization of a high energy, tunable, pulsed dye laser that is used to make ultracold strontium plasma. In order to make ultracold plasma, we cool and trap strontium atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and then photoionize them with the dye laser. The dye laser is pumped by high-energy 355nm pulses from a commercial Nd:YAG laser and it gives out 10ns pulses of 400--415nm light with up to 50mJ/pulse. We will discuss the lasers spectrum, wavelength calibration, output power and efficiency for photoionizing strontium.41 p.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Atomic physicsOpticsThesisTHESIS PHYS. 2004 GUPTA