  A concept for continuously tunable titanium-sapphire (Ti:Sa) lasers using
dispersion prisms is under investigation for the ARIEL (Advanced Rare IsotopE
Laboratory) laser ion source at TRIUMF (Canada's particle accelerator center).
Wavelength selection for pulsed Ti:Sa lasers used in hot cavity laser resonance
ionization spectroscopy is usually done with birefringent filters (BRFs) and
etalons or diffraction gratings. For resonance ionization spectroscopy a laser
system allowing a continuous wavelength scan is necessary. Tunable lasers based
on BRFs and etalons have high output powers however require synchronized
optimization for continuous laser wavelength scans and are therefore laborious
to use in scanning applications. Diffraction grating tuned lasers can provide
continuous wavelength scan over 200 nm range but typically have lower output
laser power due to the grating deformation under high pumping power. Aiming to
overcome both shortcomings a laser design based on prisms as dispersing element
has been revisited. Simulations on the beam path and optical reflectivity are
done which show that these losses can be minimized to around 0.04 % for a
tuning range from 700 nm up to 920 nm. Further improvement on the tuning range
and reduction on the linewidth will be pursued.
