Performance of gain-switched all-solid-state quasi-continuous-wave tunable Ti:sapphire laser system

We have made a gain-switched all-solid-state quasi-continuous-wave （QCW） tunable Ti：sapphire laser system, which is pumped by a 532 nm intracavity frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser. Based on the theory of gain-switching and the study on the influencing factors of the output pulse width, an effective method for obtaining high power and narrow pulse width output is proposed. Through deliberately designing the pump source and the resonator of the Ti：sapphire laser, when the repetition rate is 6 kHz and the length of the cavity is 220 mm, at an incident pump power of 22 W, the tunable Ti：sapphire laser from 700 to 950nm can be achieved. It has a maximum average output power of 5.6W at 800nm and the pulse width of 13.2 ns, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 25.5% from the 532 mn pump laser to the Ti：sapphire laser.     

Experimental study on injection-locked Ti:sapphire lasers

An injection-locked Ti:sapphire laser is developed,with injection locking achieved using the Pound-DreverHall technique.By measuring the dependence of output power on the pump power with various Ti:sapphire laser parameters,we experimentally studied the influences of the ring cavity length,the focal length of the pump-laser mode-matching lens,and the output-coupler transmission on the threshold and slope efficiency.The dependence of the output power on the master laser power is also investigated.The present study provides a guideline for developing a Ti:sapphire laser with high slope efficiency and low threshold.     

100-TW sub-20-fs Ti:sapphire laser system operating at a 10-Hz repetition rate

We developed a compact three-stage Ti:sapphire amplifier laser system that produced peak power in excess of 100 TW for a pulse duration of less than 19 fs and an average power of 19 W at a 10-Hz repetition rate. A final 40-mm-diameter Ti:sapphire amplifier is pumped by a Nd:YAG master-oscillator-power-amplifier system that produces ~7-J output of 532-nm radiation. The spatial beam quality is approximately 2 times diffraction limited for the full amplified compressed output pulse. With f/3 optics, this system should therefore be capable of producing a focused intensity of ~3x10(20) W/cm(2) .     

LD泵浦Nd:YVO4/LBO临界相位匹配腔内倍频瓦级绿光激光器

报道了一种光纤耦合LD泵浦Nd:YVO₄晶体、腔内Ⅰ类临界相位匹配(角度匹配)LBO倍频、瓦级输出的全固态绿光激光器的设计方法和实验结果.采用短三镜折叠腔结构,通过对热透镜焦距的估算及计算机优化设计选取合适的谐振腔参量,在8 W的泵浦功率下,获得了1.6 W绿光基模输出,光-光转换效率达20%.经测量,绿光的偏振比超过400:1,4 h功率稳定度为±1.6%.     

Numerical modeling of thermal effects in a high-power injection-locked cw Ti:sapphire laser

With the FEA and matrix methods, the thermal lenses induced by the thermooptic effect, thermally induced mechanical strain and end face bulging in a Ti:sapphire crystal are analyzed. The results show that there is an unignorable strain-induced lens in a high pump power region. With the thermal lens effect, an injection-locked cw Ti:sapphire laser is numerically simulated. We find that the poor mode matching between the lasing and pump beams due to thermal lens will cause the slope efficiency decreasing. The calculated results agree with the reported experimental data, and we also predict that the thermal lens is obviously active at a certain pump power level.     

360-W average power operation with a single-stage diode-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier at a 1-kHz repetition rate

We report a high-average-power laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier system that has a minimum number of elements in the single multipass zigzag-slab amplifier stage and is used to pump a high-peak-power and high-average-power Ti:sapphire laser system. This phase-conjugated system produces an average power of 362 W at 1 kHz in a 30-ns pulse with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 14%. With an external KTP doubler this system generates 132 W of green average output power at 1 kHz with a conversion efficiency of 60% when pumped at a power level of 222 W. To the best of our knowledge these results represent the highest average output power at both infrared and green wavelengths achieved in a single amplifier stage.     

Thermal lens measurement technique in end-pumped solid state lasers: Application to diode-pumped microchip lasers

A simple derivation, which relates the thermal lens focal length in solid state lasers to pump power and a method for direct estimation of thermal lens focal length, is reported. This method is applicable to any type of stable resonator. The method is used for the measurement of the thermal lens focal length with an accuracy of 8% in an axially pumped microchip laser. The variation of focal length with pump power is also measured.     

Generation of 7-fs laser pulse directly from a compact Ti:sapphire laser with chirped mirrors

A compact femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser resonator consisting of three chirped mirrors and one output coupler was designed. By accurately balancing the intra- cavity dispersions between Ti:sapphire crystal, air and chirped mirrors, we directly generated the laser pulse shorter than 7 fs at the average power of 340 mW with 3.1 W pump. The repetition rate of the laser oscillator is 173 MHz at the centre wavelength of 791 nm, and the ultrabroaden spectrum covers from 600 nm to 1000 nm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the simplest laser resonator capable of generating sub-10 fs laser pulse.     

Gain dynamics of two-wavelength Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser

We report the theory and experiments of a two-wavelength bi-tuning femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The cross-mode-locked gain competition is described with numerical solution and operation of the laser is accomplished in which two trains of femtosecond pulses cross in the Ti:sapphire rod. For this reason, a cross-bearings technique is used. The laser resonator is a six-mirror bi-cavity, and two beams of pump lights cross in Ti:sapphire crystal. Two trains of sub-30 fs cross-mode-locked pulses have been generated with independent tunable wavelength when the pump power of the argon laser is approximately 5 W. As the design of the bi-cavity is fine, not only strong gain competition is overcome, but also stable output characteristics are performed. Received: 21 July 1998 / Revised version: 5 January 1999 / Published online: 30 July 1999     

基于大基模体积的10mJ飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器

文章报导了基于大基模体积的高能量飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器的设计与实验研究,在重复频率10 Hz、抽运能量60 mJ的激励下,得到了单脉冲能量17.4 mJ的种子脉冲放大结果,压缩后的脉冲宽度为40.6 fs,能量为13.9 mJ.借助于此大基模体积再生腔,仅增加一级多通放大,实现了峰值功率达1.9 TW飞秒激光脉冲输出.结果表明,大模体积再生放大不仅降低了后续放大对抽运能量的要求,也可以单独压缩实现再生腔直接输出10 mJ量级的飞秒激光脉冲,是大能量高峰值功率飞秒激光系统的优质前端.     

100 TW级超短超强钛宝石激光装置

 介绍了基于啁啾脉冲放大（CPA）技术的100 TW级钛宝石激光装置SILEX-I。SILEX-I装置主要包括飞秒振荡器、Offner展宽器、多级放大器、以及对应的脉冲压缩器和靶室等。该装置可以输出5,30,100 TW级3个功率段,并分别配套相应的靶室系统,可以满足多种物理实验的需求。目前该装置的末级输出峰值功率达到286 TW,脉宽29.8 fs,靶面聚焦功率密度达到3.36×1020 W/cm²。     

激光二极管端面抽运室温Tm,Ho:YLF连续固体激光器

报道了激光二极管端面抽运Tm，Ho：YLF固体激光器的输出特性.室温下，选用不同透过率的输出耦合镜进行了实验研究，确定了最佳输出耦合镜透过率为2%. 利用小孔扫描的方法，得到了激光远场的光强分布，证明激光为基横模输出，并且给出了热焦距随抽运功率的变化关系.通过在激光谐振腔内插入两个固体Fabry-Perot标准具的方法，获得了2μm激光的单频输出，阈值功率为250mW，在抽运功率为2.8W时，单频输出功率为118mW.此单频激光器可用作激光振荡器和激光放大器的种子源. 关键词： 激光光学 激光二极管 Tm Ho:YLF固体激光器 单频     

200兆赫高功率CW锁模YAG激光泵浦源研究

本文报导一台200MHz 12W平均功率的CW锁模Nd:YAG激光泵浦源,输出脉宽约100ps,能够可靠地长期稳定运转。     

Seven-terawatt Ti:sapphire laser system operating at 50 Hz with high beam quality for laser Compton femtosecond X-ray generation

We present a 7-TW Ti:sapphire laser system operating at 50 Hz for laser Compton femtosecond X-ray generation. This laser system delivers 8.4 W of average output power at a repetition rate of 50 Hz with a pulse width of 24 fs. It demonstrates successful management using a dynamically stable resonator in the regenerative amplifier and compensation for thermal lensing by a convex mirror in a ring-type four-pass power amplifier. We also present the results of closed-loop corrections for distorted wavefronts of amplified and compressed laser pulses, using an adaptive optical system consisting of a Shack–Hartmann-type wavefront sensor and a deformable mirror. This closed-loop correction results in dramatic improvements, reducing wavefront distortions below 0.05 λ rms. Received: 31 October 2002 / Revised version: 3 March 2003 / Published online: 5 May 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-298/61-3349, E-mail: ito@festa.or.jp     

Effect of resonator length on ZnGeP<Subscript>2</Subscript> doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Tm,Ho:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

The effect of resonator length on ZnGeP₂ doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator was reported in this letter. With the employment of a Tm,Ho:GdVO₄ laser as the pump source at 2.05 μm, we have found that there are obvious peaks of the output power when the resonator lengths are matched to the length of the pump source. The ZGP OPO can generate a maximum output power of 4.27 W at 3.80 μm signal and 4.45 μm idler when the resonator length matches that of the pump source.     

板条固体激光器热稳特性的研究

本文报道板条激光器的热稳运行,在150W至10000W的泵浦功率下输出发散角基本保持不变,最大输出功率大于150W;并绘出了腔内插入柱面镜,以压缩输出激光发散角的初步结果.     

采用飞秒光纤激光同步泵浦的自启动锁模钛宝石激光研究

针对常规连续激光泵浦钛宝石激光振荡器不能自启动锁模的缺点,采用倍频飞秒光纤激光同步泵浦,通过调节振荡器腔长与泵浦腔长匹配,实现了飞秒钛宝石激光的自启动锁模。实验中采用3.4 W的倍频掺镱光纤激光同步泵浦钛宝石激光振荡器,获得了平均功率大于130 mW、重复频率75 MHz、光谱宽度大于47 nm、脉冲宽度17 fs的锁模脉冲输出,不仅能够稳定可靠地实现自启动锁模,解决了常规钛宝石激光振荡器锁模启动的困难,而且还具有同步输出1040,800,520 nm三束飞秒激光的特点,为进一步开展飞秒激光相干合成以及光参量放大等研究提供了优势基础。     

大口径掺钛蓝宝石晶体放大的实验研究

 分析了口径为80 mm的钛宝石晶体内的增益特性,对大口径钛宝石晶体中的泵浦光能量密度和泵浦光口径进行了优化设计。对于80 mm×17 mm的晶体,最佳工作光束口径为55 mm,泵浦能量为50 J;对于80 mm×30 mm的晶体,最佳工作光束口径为60 mm,泵浦能量为90 J,且其横向小信号增益远小于80 mm×17 mm晶体的。对影响大口径钛宝石晶体放大的横向放大自发辐射（ASE）和寄生振荡采用折射率匹配的包边技术进行了抑制。实验表明,该方法把允许横向增益从13提高到了2 100。实验系统为100 J绿光台面泵浦激光器,100 TW主放大器采用四程空间构型放大光路。80 mm×17 mm钛宝石晶体c轴水平放置,泵浦光和主激光均为水平偏振。当以泵浦光能量为49 J对主放大器进行双端泵浦,注入信号光能量为1.2 J,光束口径60 mm时,获得了14.2 J的放大光输出和286 TW的最高峰值功率。     

High-performance,compact, prismless,low-threshold 30-MHz Ti:Al2O3 laser

We describe the design and operation of a compact femtosecond Ti:Al2O3 laser based on a novel multipass cavity (MPC) design. The laser is all solid state, has prismless dispersion compensation with double-chirped mirrors, and uses a tight-focusing geometry to facilitate efficient low-threshold operation. We increase output pulse energies by extending the resonator length with a compact, scalable MPC, which preserves the characteristics of the Gaussian beam for the short cavity. Although the effective cavity length is approximately 5 m, an extremely compact laser that measures only 30 cm x 45 cm is achieved. With only 1.5 W of pump power, the laser generates 23-fs pulses at a repetition rate of 31.25 MHz and with 88 mW of average output power, corresponding to 2.8 nJ of pulse energy.     

Beam quality improvement and focused peak intensity measurement of an intense femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system

Micro-lens arrays were adopted to homogenize the beam profile of 532-nm pumping laser for the main amplifier of an intense femtosecond, chirped pulse amplification (CPA) Ti:sapphire laser. Experimental measurements showed a great improvement of the near-field pattern of the CPA beam after the main amplifier and the size of the focal spot was improved from 2.7 times diffraction limitation (DL) to 1.6 DL.The spot size focused by an f/4 off-axis parabola (OAP) in the target chamber was measured to be 5.8μm (full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)), and a peak intensity of 2.6 × 1020 W/cm2 was obtained at the output power of 120 TW. Peak intensity exceeding 1021 W/cm2 or even 1022 W/cm2 can be expected with smaller f-number focusing configuration and wavefront correction.