Pulsed dye laser system for Raman and luminescence spectroscopy.

A spectroscopic system using a pulsed dye laser to measure Raman scattering and luminescence spectra in solids is described. The dye laser, which is pumped by a pulsed nitrogen laser, is capable of being continuously tuned throughout the visible and near ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. The detection system uses gated photon counting, synchronized to the laser pulses. The apparatus combines a greater tuning range than that obtained using cw dye lasers with enhanced sensitivity over pulsed systems using analogue detection.