7.6-W diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGW laser

We have demonstrated a high power diode-pumped mode-locked femtosecond Yb:KGW laser with semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM). By using an output coupler with 10% transmittance, the laser delivered 160-fs pulses with average output power of 7.6 W at a repetition rate of 78 MHz, corresponding to pulse energy of 97 nJ and peak power of 606 kW.     

100-fs diode-pumped Yb:KGW mode-locked laser

We have developed a mode-locked diode-pumped Yb:KGW laser generating 100-fs pulses with an output power of 126 mW. The corresponding optical spectrum has a 13.4-nm FWHM bandwidth and is centered at 1037.4 nm. In the multiple-pulsing regime, bound states of solitons with rotating phase difference and separated by 917.5 fs were observed. We compare the performance of the Yb:KGW crystal to that of an Yb:KYW crystal with the same thickness and Yb concentration. PACS 42.55.Rz; 42.65.Re; 42.65.Tg     

Hybrid femtosecond laser system based on a Yb:KGW regenerative amplifier for N_P polarization

We report a hybrid femtosecond laser system based on a femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser and a Yb-doped potassium gadolinium tungstate(Yb:KGW) regenerative amplifier. To match the central wavelength of the seed source, a Yb:KGW crystal is used in the regenerative amplifier for N_p polarization. We study and optimize the dynamics of nonlinear amplification to alleviate the gain narrowing effect. With optimization, the system can output 270 fs pulses with 21 μJ pulse energy at a 60 kHz repetition rate.     

Carrier envelope phase stabilization of a Yb:KGW laser amplifier

In this paper we report on the active stabilization of the carrier envelope phase (CEP) of a Yb:KGW chirped pulse amplifier laser system seeded by a Yb-doped solid-state Kerr-lens mode-locked oscillator. The regenerative amplifier delivers 180 fs CEP stable pulses of 30 μJ-1 mJ energy at a repetition rate tunable from 1 to 200 kHz. The bandwidth of the feedback loop was extended by a factor of 5 using a specially designed high-pass filter, which resulted in a dramatic decrease of CEP jitter below 0.45 rad after the amplifier.     

Mode-locked Yb:KGW laser longitudinally pumped by polarization-coupled diode bars

Mode-locked operation of a simple Yb:KGW (potassium gadolinium tungstate) oscillator is described, providing 10 W at 1039 nm with a 290 fs pulse width. A polarization-coupled scheme is used for efficient longitudinal pumping by a pair of reshaped laser diode bars. With changes in cavity dispersion, the pulse width is adjustable from 134 to 433 fs, in a high-quality circular mode. A saturable absorber mirror provides self-starting operation, and the cavity is stabilized by the Kerr-lens effect.     

All-fiber laser seeded femtosecond Yb:KGW solid state regenerative amplifier

A high efficiency compact Yb:KGW regenerative amplifier using an all-fiber laser seed source was comprehensively studied. With thermal lensing effect compensated by the cavity design, the compressed pulses with energy of 1 m J at 1 k Hz and 0.4 m J at 10 k Hz in sub-400-fs pulse duration using chirped fiber Bragg grating(CFBG) stretcher were demonstrated.A modified Frantz–Nodvik equation was developed to emulate the dynamic behavior of the regenerative amplifier. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experiment. Numerical simulations and experimental results show that the scheme can be scalable to higher energy of multi-m J, sub-300 fs pulses.     

Yb∶KGW激光晶体无热方向的计算与分析

针对各向异性Yb∶KGW激光晶体有可能存在热透镜效应为零的传播方向（即无热方向）,利用Biswal等人2篇文献和Pujol等人对Yb∶KGW晶体热膨胀系数的测量结果,分别采用最小二乘法和二阶张量旋转计算出对应晶体的热膨胀张量,据此计算出2篇文献中所述晶体的无热方向。通过对比分析发现：尽管晶体热膨胀张量存在一定的个体差异,但是该晶体普遍只存在2个无热方向,即当光为m偏振时,在p-g平面内与p轴成正负二十多度的2个方向,而不是Biswal等人给出的4个无热方向。另外,利用得到的热膨胀张量计算出某特定方向的热光特性与瑞典的Hellstrom等人报道的激光器热透镜实验结果相一致。     

Terahertz pulse emission from semiconductor surfaces illuminated by femtosecond Yb:KGW laser pulses

The amplitudes of terahertz pulses emitted from the surfaces of InAs, InSb, InGaAs, GaAs and Ge after their excitation by femtosecond 1 μm laser pulses was compared. It has been found that this effect is most efficient in p-type InAs. The mechanisms leading to the terahertz emission are investigated and discussed. It has been concluded that in the majority of the investigated semiconductors the main contribution to THz pulse emission comes from the electrical-field-induced optical rectification effect.     

Stable, efficient diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGW laser through optimization of energy density on SESAM

An efficient high-power diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGW laser is repored. Through optimization of energy density by semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, output power achieved 2.4 W with pulse duration of 350 fs and repetition rate of 53 MHz at a pump power of 12.5 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 19.2%. We believe that it is the highest optical-to-optical efficiency for single-diode-pumped bulk Yb:KGW femtosecond lasers to date.     

Yb3+离子掺杂钨酸钾钆晶体的光谱参数

从Yb³⁺:KGd(WO₄)₂(KGW)的吸收谱和荧光谱出发,利用倒易理论计算其各个光谱参量,如吸收截面,受激发射截面,辐射寿命等.由于Yb³⁺:KGW晶体较适合用作二极管泵浦的激光器的材料,而激光二极管所发出的光是偏振光,晶体又是双折射晶体,因此研究了泵浦光的不同通光方向和偏振方向对Yb³⁺:KGW晶体荧光光谱的影响.实验表明在不同情况下其对晶体荧光强度影响较大,因此在设计用激光二极管泵浦的激光器时,应考虑合适的泵浦光偏振方向和入射在晶体上的轴向,其中泵浦光的通光方向比泵浦光偏振方向对晶体的荧光强度的影响更大.对按晶轴切割的这两种晶体,相同实验条件下,荧光强度I_c>I_b>I_a.对于按折射率主轴切割的来说,荧光强度I_Np>I_Ng>I_Nm.在通光方向为c轴,偏振方向平行b轴时得到了最大的荧光强度.     

1.12-W Q-switched Yb:KGW laser based on transmission-type Bi2Se3 saturable absorber

We present a passively Q-switched Yb:KGW laser based on a transmission-type saturable absorber of topological insulator:Bi_2Se_3.The saturable absorber is prepared on a 0.17-mm glass substrate and can translate intra-cavity for best performance nearly without influence on the laser mode.At a maximum pump power of 13.7 W,the central wavelength,pulse duration,repetition rate,and pulse energy of Q-switched pulse are 1043 nm,1.5 μs,175.4 kHz,6.39 μJ,respectively.The maximum output power is 1.12 W.To our knowledge,this is the highest average output power from passively Qswitched lasers with topological insulator saturable absorbers.     

High energy femtosecond OPA pumped by 1030 nm Yb:KGW laser.

We present a traveling-wave-type optical parametric amplifier (OPA) pumped at 1.03 μm by a Yb:KGW laser that produces tunable high-energy pulses of 6.5–4 μJ in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region from 3.6 to 7 μm. Pumping with negatively chirped pulses generates nearly transform-limited (TL) mid-IR pulses of 300–330 fs length. Pumping with TL pulses of 200 fs not only decreases the output energy by a factor of 1.5, but also decreases the mid-IR pulse-length to 160 fs after additional compression. The compact and simple OPA setup is ideal for femtosecond infrared experiments in the fingerprint region.     

Acoustooptical interaction of light beams under conditions of internal conical refraction

The collinear acoustooptical (AO) interaction of light beams under conditions of internal conical refraction is considered. The dependences of the diffraction efficiency on the ratio of radii of light and ultrasonic beams, the AO coupling length, and the ultrasound intensity are found. An analytical expression is obtained describing the diffraction efficiency of collinear AO conversion of annular beams of internal conical refraction.     

In situ characterization of semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors in an operating Yb:KGW mode-locked laser

We report in situ characterization of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in an operating Yb:KGW mode-locked laser. The technique may be described as a pump-probe experiment in which the intracavity beam acts as a pump beam while the output of the same laser is used as a test beam for the SESAM reflectivity. At zero delay, the probe pulse overlaps in time with the subsequent intracavity pulse. The method is an alternative to standard pump-probe measurements in situations where the intracavity parameters such as energy fluence onto the SESAM, pulse length, and center wavelength cannot be achieved simultaneously with available lasers.     

High-efficiency flashlamp-pumped Nd:KGW laser

The laser performance of a Nd:KGW rod has been studied in a single flashlamp cavity in the free running as well as in the Q-switched mode of operation at input energies ranging from 1–25J. The results of Nd:KGW have been compared with Nd:YAG operated under identical experimental conditions. The laser extraction efficiency of the Nd:KGW rod was observed to be 2.5 times higher at a much lower threshold than that of the Nd:YAG rod. The intrinsic slope efficiency was determined to be 2.25% and 8.840% for Nd:YAG and Nd:KGW rods, respectively.     

Efficient Yb:KGW lasers end-pumped by high-power diode bars

The laser performance of Yb:KGW under end-pumping with high-power diode bars has been investigated. In one configuration, the pump is delivered through an optical fiber yielding a symmetric but unpolarized pump spot. In the second configuration, the pump is delivered through an optical lens system yielding a polarized but asymmetric pump spot. Both configurations resulted in a maximum optical to optical efficiency of 47% and a maximum power of 12.4 W has been generated with the fiber coupled pump source. The output power was limited by crystal fracture, which occurred at an estimated temperature gradient of 1.2×10⁵ K/m. Thermal lensing and laser tuning characteristics are also investigated. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Lh     

Er3+/Yb3+:KG(WO4)2的熔盐提拉法生长及光谱性能

采用熔盐提拉法生长了尺寸达30 mm×25 mm×15 mm的Er3+/yb3+KGd(WO4)2透明晶体,从中切出5 mm×5 mm×3mm大小的激光器件,在室温下测试了吸收光谱,可以观察到晶体存在366,380,489,522,651,811,980 nm等吸收峰,并对之进行了能级归属.同时在980 nm激光激发下测试了荧光光谱,可以发现在1 024,1 535 nm处存在较宽的强发射峰,其半高宽分别为60和36 nm.研究结果表明,Er3+/yb3+KG(WO4)2适合于InGaAs LD(980 nm)泵浦,有可能产生1 024 nm波段及人眼安全的1 535 nm波段的可调谐激光.