Abstract
In this paper we report the observation of dual Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) from solutions of 7-ethylamino-4-methyl coumarin dye (Coumarin 445) in certain solvents such as
n-butyl acetate, dioxane etc. when pumped by high power nitrogen laser. The two ASE bands appear to be from two different excited species (ICT and TICT conformation) one of which is the precursor of the other. The spectral characteristics of dye Coumarin 445 depend upon the solvent environment. The TICT coumarin photoisomers, which form exciplexes with the solvent molecules, have enough gain to produce amplified spontaneous emission even when there is apparently no detectable fluorescence. The behaviour of this dye in the excited state is studied by measuring the small signal gain and variation of the gain slope with temperature in different solvents. It is observed that polarity of the solvent plays a more dominant role in formation and stabilization of TICT states.