Characteristics of a hybridly mode-locked cw dye laser

We present experimental and theoretical results on the characteristics and random variations of subpicosecond pulses generated by a synchronously pumped cw dye laser with saturable absorber. The analysis of the power spectra indicates rapid fluctuations of the pulse duration of 40–50%, energy fluctuations of 3%, and a jitter of the repetition time of 0.1% corresponding to an absolute jitter of 12 ps. The latter is caused mainly by the temporal jitter of the pump laser. A mismatch of the lengths of the dye and the pump-laser cavity can result in a nonstationary mode-locking regime with a periodic change of the pulse parameters. The interpretation of the experimental results are supported by computer simulations of the pulse evolution process.     

Subpicosecond pulse generation from a 1.56 μm mode-locked VECSEL

Near-transform-limited subpicosecond pulses at 1.56 μm were generated from an optically pumped InP-based vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) passively mode-locked at 2 GHz repetition rate with a fast InGaAsNSb/GaAs semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The SESAM microcavity resonance was adjusted via a selective etching of phase layers specifically designed to control the magnitude of both the modulation depth and the intracavity group delay dispersion of the SESAM. Using the same VECSEL chip, we observed that the mode-locked pulse duration could be reduced from several picoseconds to less than 1 ps with a detuned resonant SESAM.     

Mode-locking of cw dye laser using externally modulated pumping laser

A new mode-locking method of tunable dye laser is described. This simple and practical method requires only an external intensity modulator to the pumping source. After the simple analytical considerations, the experimental work was done using an Ar laser pumped Rhodamin 6G dye laser and an acousto-optic modulator. As results, stable continuous trains of mode-locked pulses were obtained throughout in the ordinary lasing range 570–630 nm. The pulse width, estimated to be 30–50 ps by SHG autocorrelation measurements, is limited by the bandwidth of Lyot filter used. It is also shown experimentally that this method can be applicable for the suppression of the growth of double pulses in passive mode-locking with saturable absorber (DODCI).     

Experimental study of relativistic self-focusing andself-channeling of an intense laser pulse in an underdense plasma

This paper reports on experimental investigations on relativistic self-focusing and self-channeling of a terawatt laser pulse (0.7 TW⩽P⩽15 TW) in an underdense plasma. We present results obtained with picosecond (τ=1 ps) and subpicosecond (τ=0.4 ps) pulses. In the “long pulse” regime, modifications in the laser propagation are observed for Pc, the critical power for self-focusing. By contrast, self-guiding of subpicosecond pulses is observed for P≈P_c. Using a paraxial envelope model describing the laser propagation and taking into account the plasma response to the ponderomotive force, it is shown that a maximum laser intensity of 5-15 times that reached in vacuum may be achieved when P is in the (1.25-4)×P_c range. It is also demonstrated that ion motion may significantly reduce the effective P_c     

Wavelength-independent all-optical synchronization of a Q-switched 100-ps microchip laser to a femtosecond laser reference source

We present a Q-switched microchip laser emitting 1064-nm pulses as short as 100 ps synchronized to a cavity dumped femtosecond laser emitting 800-nm pulses as short as 80 fs. The synchronization is achieved by presaturating the saturable absorber of the microchip laser with femtosecond pulses even though both lasers emit at widely separated wavelengths. The mean timing jitter is 40 ps and thus considerably shorter than the pulse duration of the microchip laser.     

Observation of subpicosecond x-ray emission from laser-cluster interaction

We present the first experimental evidence of the subpicosecond duration of x-ray pulses emitted from laser-irradiated clusters, demonstrating the suitability of such a debris free target for ultrafast x-ray science applications. The K-shell emission (approximately 3 keV) from large Ar clusters (6 x 10(5) to 4 x 10(6) atoms) is time resolved, when irradiated by ultrashort (40 fs to 5 ps) and intense laser pulses (10(15-17) W/cm2). The observations are supported by hydrodynamical and collisional-radiative calculations, that reproduce the extremely short x-ray pulse duration.     

Near-infrared subpicosecond pulse generation in a synchronously mode-locked cw dye laser

Tunable subpicosecond pulses have been obtained from a synchronously mode-locked Oxazine-1 dye laser by tandem pumping with output pulses of a mode-locked Rhodamine 6G dye laser. The effects of cavity detuning on the pulse-width and the second harmonic power (the peak intensity of the autocorrelation trace) have been investigated. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with those predicted by a recent model analysis.     

Coherence Time Measurement of Picosecond Pulses Using Reverse Saturable Absorption in Lead Phthalocyanine

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Saturable absorbers incorporating carbon nanotubes directly synthesized onto substrates and fibers and their application to mode-locked fiber lasers

We present novel carbon-nanotube-based saturable absorbers. Using the low-temperature alcohol catalytic chemical-vapor deposition method, high-quality single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were directly synthesized on quartz substrates and fiber ends. We successfully applied the SWNTs to mode lock a fiber laser producing subpicosecond pulses at a 50-MHz repetition rate.     

Quantum-dot-based saturable absorber for femtosecond mode-locked operation of a solid-state laser

A quantum-dot-based saturable absorber has been demonstrated to initiate the generation of femtosecond pulses from a passively mode-locked solid-state laser. Control and tuning of the pulse duration from 58 ps to 158 fs was achieved. The 158 fs transform-limited pulses at 1280 nm are the shortest pulses that were produced from the Cr:forsterite laser passively mode locked by an InAs/InGaAs quantum-dot semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.     

Picosecond and subpicosecon pulse generation in synchronously pumped mode-locked cw dye lasers

Generation of tunable near-infrared picosecond and subpicosecond pulses in a synchronously pumped cw mode-locked Oxazine-1-perchlorate dye laser has been investigated for different values of the important system parameters. The experimental results confirm the predictions of a simple theoretical model which describes the steady-state pulse duration in terms of gain modulation strength, pump power, intracavity bandwidth, pump pulse length and cavity detuning. For a pump-pulse length of 100 ps and a bandwidth of more than 500 Å for the intracavity tuning element dye-laser pulses as short as 0.35 ps have been obtained. Under these conditions up to 100 mW of average output power were provided. In addition, mode-locking of an Oxazine 750 dye laser by synchronous pumping with the cw train of pulses obtained from the Oxazine-1-Perchlorate laser is reported.     

Pulsewidth and interpulse jitter measurements of a passively mode-locked ring CW dye laser

Pulsewidth and jitter measurements have been carried out on a passively mode-locked Rhodamine 6G CW ring dye laser using the SHG autocorrelation technique and a synchroscan streak camera respectively. The pulse durations were measured to be ≈0.18 ps and the cumulative long-term jitter was deduced to be subpicosecond.     

220-fs erbium-ytterbium:glass laser mode locked by a broadband low-loss silicon/germanium saturable absorber

We demonstrate femtosecond performance of an ultrabroadband high-index-contrast saturable Bragg reflector consisting of a silicon/silicon dioxide/germanium structure that is fully compatible with CMOS processing. This device offers a reflectivity bandwidth of over 700 nm and subpicosecond recovery time of the saturable loss. It is used to achieve mode locking of an Er-Yb:glass laser centered at 1540 nm, generating 220-fs pulses, with what is to our knowledge the broadest output spectrum to date.     

Femtosecond transient reflection from polymer surfaces during femtosecond UV photoablation

A subpicosecond KrF laser system (248 nm, 0.5 ps) was used as a light source for ablation of PMMA Mylar and Kapton. The time-dependent reflectivity of the light-induced plasma mirror as measured by 496 nm, 0.5 ps long probe pulses showed an increase of up to 94% with 0.4–1 ps rise time and 10–15 ps fall time. The highdensity plasma mirror shows perfect optical quality, and seems to be a promising light-controlled ultrafast switch for UV and visible light. The spectrum of the UV light reflected from the ablated spot is blue shifted by 0.5 nm and shows 1 nm broadening.     

Tunable picosecond transient stimulated Raman scattering in ethanol

Transient stimulated Raman scattering (TSRS) of picosecond dye laser pulses in ethanol has been investigated experimentally. In particular some temporal features of TSRS from the C-H stretching mode (2928 cm^-1) in ethanol have been studied with a Photochron II streak camera with subpicosecond time resolution. It is shown that the use of TSRS provides a simple method for producing picosecond pulses tunable over the spectral region ≈492–532 nm and 691–772 nm by tuning a passively mode-locked Rhodamine 6G dye laser from 575–630 nm.     

Single picosecond-pulse generation in a mode-locked oscillator and regenerative amplifier system

A mode-locked Nd-glass laser oscillator with intra-cavity pulse selection by a Pockels cell shutter is described. A regenerative amplifier system with a saturable absorber is used to shorten the selected light pulses from the master oscillator. Pulses were shortened from 8 ps to 1 ps.     

Generation,stabilization, and amplification of subpicosecond pulses

A sync-pumped cw dye laser system has been used to produce subpicosecond pulses. Pulses as short as 0.7 ps, assuming a single-sided exponential pulse shape, were observed. A set of experiments was performed to investigate the origin and effects of noise in the sync-pumped system. A digital and an analog feedback loop have been designed to optimize the pulse width. The noise has been lowered by 10 dB for frequencies up to 10 kHz; long-term drift is also controlled by this method. A four-stage dye laser amplifier, pumped by a Nd:YAG laser which operates at a 10-Hz repetition rate, is synchronized electronically to the dye-laser picosecond pulses. A gain of 3×10⁶ has been achieved.This work was supported by the Joint Services Electronics Program     

太赫兹瞬态响应光导开关的实验研究

采用飞秒激光激励光导开关能够产生脉宽皮秒甚至亚皮秒级的太赫兹脉冲,近年来,这项技术成为校准宽带示波器上升时间的有效手段。以低温生长砷化镓（LT-GaAs）为光导开关的基底,在飞秒激光激励下产生太赫兹脉冲,经共面波导传输,通过微波探针耦合为1．85mm同轴输出,然后利用带宽70GHz的取样示波器对其半幅度宽度进行测量。实验获得太赫兹脉冲的半幅度宽度（FWHM）约为7．4ps。     

Phase-locked soliton pairs in a stretched-pulse fiber laser

We report the experimental observation of stable pulse pairs with a +/-pi/2 phase difference in a passively mode-locked stretched-pulse fiber ring laser. In our setup the stabilization of interacting subpicosecond pulses is obtained with a large range of pulse separations, namely, from 2.7 to 10 ps, without the need for external control.     

Pulse properties of a synchronously mode-locked,cavity dumped,picosecond dye laser system

A synchronously mode-locked, cavity-dumped picosecond dye laser is described. The structure and intensity of the picosecond pulses measured under different conditions are reported. It was found that the structure of the pulses from the synchronously pumped dye laser depends critically on the length of the Ar⁺ laser pulses. At the shortest Ar⁺ laser pulses of about 70 ps the dye pulses are as short as 1.1 ps. With Ar⁺ laser pulses of 200 ps the dye laser pulses contains a broad satellite pulse which contains a large fraction of the total intensity. When a cavity dumper is added to the system one gets dye laser pulses 15–20 ps long with a substructure, which indicates incomplete mode-locking. Well mode-locked 1.5–2.0 ps pulses were obtained in the red part of the dye laser action spectrum, i.e. 620–650 nm for R6G, 595–608 nm for R 110 and 657–662 nm for RB, respectively. Addition of mode-locking dyes also improved the pulse quality at some wavelengths.