Low-loss 1.3-microm GaInNAs saturable Bragg reflector for high-power picosecond neodymium lasers

A novel low-loss, single-step-growth 1.3-microm GaInNAs saturable Bragg reflector mode-locking element has been developed. Combined radial thickness and postgrowth annealing control have permitted a tuning range of 46 nm for passive mode locking to be demonstrated from one wafer. With this structure, stabilized mode locking was obtained from quasi-cw diode-pumped Nd:YLF and Nd:YALO lasers operating at 1314 and 1342 nm, respectively, with average on-time output powers of as much as 20 W and pulse durations as low as 22 ps.     

Ultrafast all-solid-state laser technology

Passively mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state lasers can provide practical high-power laser sources with pico- and femtosecond pulse durations. We use semiconductors not only to optically pump but also to cw mode-lock or Q-switch a solid-state laser. A novel saturable absorber design, the Antiresonant Fabry-Perot Saturable Absorber (A-FPSA), allows of using semiconductor saturable-absorber materials even though they are generally not well-matched to the characteristics required for diode-pumped solid-state lasers, i.e., the semiconductors tend to have too much optical loss, a too low saturation intensity, and a too low damage threshold. This paper gives an overview of passively mode-locked ion-doped crystalline solid-state lasers. In particular, we present a quantitative discussion of A-FPSA mode locking, and compare A-FPSA mode locking with other passive mode locking techniques such as KLM (Kerr Lens Mode locking).     

利用被动锁模技术实现超短脉冲激光输出实验

基于被动锁模技术,设计了结构紧凑的Z型谐振腔,采用半导体可饱和吸收镜作为被动锁模元件,利用激光二极管泵浦增益线宽较宽的Nd∶YVO4晶体,最终实现了连续锁模的脉冲输出.在输入功率为8.20W时,获得了输出功率为1.72W的1 064nm连续锁模脉冲激光输出,光-光转换效率达21%,锁模脉冲重复频率为110MHz.     

Generation and measurement of frequency-tunable picosecond pulses from dye lasers

Experimental techniques for the generation of frequency-tunable picosecond pulses from passively mode-locked dye lasers are reviewed. Direct photoelectric measurements of pulse durations with a streak-camera of time resolution <3 ps are described. Recent studies of the build-up of pulse shortening and of saturable absorber photochemistry are discussed and related to the mode-locking processes in dye lasers.     

Ultrafast solid-state lasers

This article is intended to provide an introduction to ultrafast laser development for scientists new to the field and to provide a snapshot of the current state-of-the-art. In the first section, the main issues concerning ultrashort pulse generation are discussed and then the basic techniques of mode-locking are reviewed at a tutorial level. These include active mode-locking, passive mode-locking with real, resonant, saturable absorbers and passive mode-locking with the optical Ken effect. Emphasis is placed on practical ultrafast solid-state lasers for real-world applications.     

Passive Q-switching and mode-locking for the generation of nanosecond to femtosecond pulses

The passive and hybrid Q-switching and mode-locking of solid-state lasers, dye lasers, semiconductor lasers and gas lasers is reviewed. The dynamics of saturable absorbers and reverse saturable absorbers is illustrated. The nanosecond pulse generation by passive and hybrid Q-switching of low-gain active media is described. The picosecond and femtosecond pulse generation by passive and hybrid mode-locking in low-gain and high-gain active media is analysed. The performance data of passively and hybridly mode-locked cw femtosecond dye lasers are collected. The pulse shortening of ultra-fast pulses with saturable absorbers in intra-cavity and extra-cavity configurations is discussed.     

Mechanism of pulse shaping in femtosecond lasers based on the high-order soliton

The mechanism of pulse shaping in Kerr-lens mode-locking Ti : sapphire lasers is investigated. Considering the balanced interaction between self-phase modulation, introduced by Kerr effect in Ti : sapphire, and group-velocity dispersion provided by prism-pair, pulse-splitting reflected in the intensity autocorrelation trace and pulse-compression display that the pulses outputting from different positions in laser cavity have different durations. We have concluded that the solitonlike pulse shaping that results from the competition between intracavity self-phase modulation within the Ti : S and negative group-velocity dispersion play dominant role in pulse evolution in Kerr-lens mode-locking lasers.     

Passive mode locking of thin-disk lasers: effects of spatial hole burning

We recently demonstrated that passive mode locking of a thin-disk Yb:YAG laser is possible and that this concept leads to sources of femtosecond pulses with very high average power. Here we discuss in detail the effect of spatial hole burning on the mode-locking behavior of such lasers. We have developed an efficient numerical model and arrive at quantitative stability criteria which agree well with experimental data. The main result is that stable soliton mode locking can in general be obtained only in a certain range of pulse durations. We use our model to investigate the influence of various cavity parameters and the situation for different gain media. We also consider several methods to reduce the effect of spatial hole burning in order to expand the range of possible pulse durations. Received: 4 September 2000 / Published online: 10 January 2001     

Passive stabilization of a passively mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser by inverse saturable absorption

A diode-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ laser mode-locked by a semiconductor saturable absorber and output coupler (SESAOC) is passively stabilized to suppress Q-switched mode-locking. A phase mismatched BIBO second-harmonic generation (SHG) crystal is used for passive stabilization. The continuous wave mode-locking (CWML) threshold is reduced and the pulse width is compressed. The pulse width is 6.5 ps as measured at the repetition rate of 128 MHz.     

Nd: Sr5 (PO4) 3F Crystal Laser Characteristics Using GaAs as Passive Q-switch

It is investigated the properties of a diode-pumped Nd: Sr5 ( PO4 )3F laser that is passively Q-switched by a thin, single crystal GaAs wafer. The short high-peak-power pulses of the laser have been obtained. The pulse energies, pulse widths and pulse repetition rates for different conditions have been measured and the experimental results show that GaAs is an excellent passive Q-switch of the diode-pumped Nd: Sr5(PO4)3F lasers.     

Nd: Sr_5 (PO_4 )_3 F Crystal Laser Characteristics Using GaAs as Passive Q-switch

1 IntroductionQ- switching Of diode-pumped lasers iS an effective technique because they provideshort duration optical pulses required for laser ranging, nonlinear studies, medidne andother important applications[1--#]. It is obvious that the replacement of an organic dyewith a solid-state one makeS a laser more convenient tO use. Semiconductor materialsare attractive for saturable absorber because Of the large optical nonlinearities that can beobtained, particularly in quantum--well .t..t..…     

Diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:CaNb2O6 laser

We report to our knowledge a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:CaNb(2)O(6) (Yb:CN) laser for the first time. Both CW and passive mode-locking operation of the laser are experimentally investigated. A maximum CW output power of 1.4 W with a slope efficiency of 20% is obtained on a 7 mm long 1.5 at.% Yb:CN crystal, while stable passive mode-locking with a commercial semiconductor saturable absorption mirror (SESAM) was achieved on a 3 mm long 3 at.% Yb:CN crystal. The mode-locked pulses have pulse width of 251 fs and an average output power of 44 mW at 1038 nm.     

Mode-locked CW dye lasers

Mode-locking of CW dye lasers are described. Three different methods: active mode-locking by acoustic loss modulation, pumping with mode-locked pulses and passive mode-locking by a saturable absorber, all resulted in stable continuous trains of tunable mode-locked pulses of various duration. Best results were obtained using passive mode-locking by a saturable absorber. The pulse lengths for this case were measured by auto-correlation technique to be as short as 1.5 ps. Factors influencing the mode-locking and possible improvements are discussed.     

Novel Analytic Theory for Laser Mode-Locking

The time-domain ABCD matrix formalism is based on the propagation of a Gaussian pulse which is characterized by the pulsewidth and chirp. In this paper, we will perfect this method and derive time-domain ABCD matrices for more optical devices. Especially, we extend this perfected theory to analyze the principle of passive mode-locking by reasonable approximation though, as we know, the output pulse generated from passive mode-locking fiber laser is of sech-shape. It is attractive because it can present a fairly apparent view to understand the mechanism of fiber lasers as well as analytic results to understand the pulse characteristics.     

Diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:GGG laser with a semiconductor saturable mirror

We report on the passive mode-locking of a diode-end-pumped neodymium-doped gadolinium gallium garnet (Nd:GGG) crystal with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). Continuous wave (CW) mode-locking was obtained. The mode-locked pulse duration was estimated to be ∼17.5 ps with a maximum average output power of 0.4 W. The mode-locked pulses have a repetition rate of 121.5 MHz. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of passive mode-locking of the diode pumped Nd:GGG lasers.     

Threshold self-start of laser passive mode-locking under conditions of high-order frequency dispersion of the refractive index

The dependence of the self-start of laser passive mode-locking on the peak intensity of initial pulses under conditions of high-order frequency dispersion of the refractive index is analyzed using numerical simulation and analytical calculations. It is found that frequency dispersion of this type can lead to generation bistability. Specifically, laser passive mode-locking requires the generation of a sufficiently intense seed pulse in the initial noise distribution of the field in the laser cavity; otherwise, no laser passive mode-locking occurs and a steady-state lasing mode with the entire laser cavity filled with radiation is established in the system after the transient process is completed. The revealed threshold dependence of the self-start of laser passive mode-locking on the intensity of the initial seed pulse is one of the possible factors preventing the generation of ultrashort pulses in Kerr-lens lasers.     

Stable passively Q-switched operation of Tm3+ doped silica fiber laser by anti-resonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber

We demonstrate a diode-pumped passively Q-switched Tm-doped double-cladding silica fiber laser operating at wavelength of 1960 nm using an anti-resonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber as passive modulation element. To determine a relatively preferable fiber length for stable cw Q-switched operation, three active fiber simples with the length of 1.1, 5.3, and 7.0 m were employed respectively in our experiments. With 1.1 m gain fiber, we generated Q-switched pulses with a pulse width of 245 ns and an average power of up to 2.2 W at a repetition rate of 620 kHz. For the longer two fiber samples, Q-switched operation with longer pulse duration, Q-switched mode-locking and cw mode-locking were observed, respectively.     

C. 超短激光光源

本文对超短激光脉冲的产生、压缩技术的最新发展做了详细评述。     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser with 1-W average output power

Continuous-wave passive mode locking of a diode-pumped Nd:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser is demonstrated. The use of a saturable Bragg reflector as the mode-locking element permits the generation of 6.3-ps pulses, assuming a sech(2) pulse shape. An output power of 1 W was obtained, which corresponds to a slope efficiency of 34.5%.     

Supercontinuum self-Q-switched ytterbium fiber laser.

We have discovered a new mechanism for passive Q switching of fiber lasers. 10-kW peak power pulses with ~2-ns pulse widths are reported from a diode-pumped ytterbium-doped fiber laser. The laser generates a high-brightness Raman-dominated supercontinuum spectrum covering the complete window of transparency of silica fiber in the infrared from 1.06 to 2.3 mum.