The necessary requirements imposed on polar dielectric laser dye solvents

A laser Mach-Zehnder interferometeric technique is applied to measure the refractive index n and its thermo-optic coefficient dn/dT for five important pure polar dielectric laser dye solvents (water, methanol, ethyleneglycol, butanol and acetic acid). The measurements are carried out using the argon-ion laser wavelength 514.5 nm, and He-Ne laser of lambda = 632.8 nm. Applying the empirical relationship of Cauchy between the refractive index and wavelength, the following properties are calculated and represented: The refractive index, the thermo-optic constant - dn/dT, the optical dispersion - d(n)/d(lambda) as a function of wavelength and Cauchy's constants against temperature. On the other hand, a discussion for comparison between the investigated solvents are given. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.