Continuous-wave dye lasers in the DCM region

Laser dye DCM in an ethylene glycol solution is a favored medium for converting the argon-ion 488- and 514-nm pump lines to tunable radiation in the 600-730-nm region. However, the dye precipitates from solution, is a powerful mutagen, and the glycol solvent is hygroscopic. Replacement dyes in 3-phenyl-1- propanol or 2-phenoxyethanol, particularly the latter, are proposed.