Continuous-wave mode-locked solid-state lasers with enhanced spatial hole burning

We systematically investigate the difference between both actively and passively mode-locked lasers with Gain-at-the-End (GE) and Gain-in-the-Middle (GM) at the example of Nd:YLF lasers. The GE laser generates pulse widths approximately three times shorter than a comparable GM cavity. This is due to enhanced Spatial Hole Burning (SHB) which effectively flattens the saturated gain and allows for a larger lasing bandwidth compared to a GM cavity. We first investigate enhanced SHB by measuring the cw mode spectrum, where we have observed that the mode spacing in GE cavities depends primarily on the crystal length. This was also confirmed for a Nd:LSB crystal, where the pump absorption length was significantly shorter than the crystal length. In mode-locked operation, pulse widths of 4 ps for passive mode locking and 5 ps for active mode locking are demonstrated with GE cavities, compared to 11 ps for passive and 17 ps for active mode locking with GM cavities. Additionally, the time-bandwidth product for the GE cavity is approximately twice the ideal product for a sech² pulse shape and cannot be improved by dispersion compensation alone, while the GM cavity has nearly ideal time-bandwidth-limited performance. The results for the GM cavity compare well to existing theories taking into account the added effect of pump-power-dependent gain bandwidth which increases the bandwidth of Nd: YLF from 360 to > 500 GHz. In a following paper [1] (called Part II) a rigorous theoretical treatment of the effects due to SHB will be presented.     

Numerical analysis of pulse formation in solid-state lasers mode-locked with a linear external cavity

We analyse pulse formation in solid-state lasers mode-locked with a linear external cavity with translating mirror. Based on a numerical simulation the mode-locking mechanism is found to be that of an active mode-locking due to the explicitly time-dependent phase shift by the external cavity involving a slowly moving mirror and a non-zero temporal mismatch to the master cavity. Additional pulse shortening and stabilization is performed by the additive pulse mode-locking mechanism arising from self-phase modulation due to a Kerr-type non-resonant nonlinearity in the host crystal of the laser amplifier.     

Analysis of temporal pulse development in passively mode-locked lasers

Pulse-shortening and pulse broadening effects in passively mode-locked lasers are analysed. A steady-state pulse duration limit is calculated and compared with round-trip simulations. The numerical calculations apply to a picosecond Nd: glass laser. Methods of short-pulse generation are discussed.     

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     

Compact resonator designs for mode-locked solid-state lasers

Received: 16 February 1997/Revised version: 24 April 1997     

Numerical analysis of pulse generation in synchronously mode-locked cw dye lasers

We present theoretical results on the characteristics of pulses generated by a synchronously pumped dye laser. Our analysis indicates the important influence of spontaneous emission on shape and frequency chirp of the pulse. Dye-laser operation is possible within a wide range of cavity mismatch. A large mismatch of the lengths of the dye and the pump-laser cavity results in the generation of noise bursts caused by the influence of spontaneous emission. At small cavity mismatch pulse profile and frequency chirp of the pulse are directly generated in the steady-state regime by algebraic equations. Our formulas indicate that the sign of the pulse chirp depends only on the sign of the shift between laser frequency and centre frequency of the amplifying transition.     

Theory of passively mode-locked cw dye lasers

The circulation of an ultrashort light pulse in a continuously pumped modelocked dye laser with a linear cavity configuration containing the active dye, the saturable absorber and a bandwidth-limiting elements is treated. The steady-state condition that the pulse shape reproduces after each cavity round-trip leads to a nonlinear integro-differential equation for this pulse shape. An approximate method for the solution of this equation not limited to the case of low laser gain and small pulse energies is given. The stable single pulse region and characteristic pulse parameters, as energy, duration, intensity and asymmetry, are considered in dependence on the laser parameters.     

Soliton-like pulse-shaping mechanism in passively mode-locked surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

We discuss a mechanism that allows the formation of nearly transform-limited soliton-like pulses in passively mode-locked optically pumped external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers. It involves the interplay of positive dispersion and the nonlinear index changes in gain medium and saturable absorber, while ordinary solitons are based on dispersion and the Kerr effect. The obtained quasi-soliton pulses share some of the properties of ordinary solitons (in particular, their stability and near bandwidth-limited nature), while other properties are different. In particular, the pulse duration scales with the square root of the cavity dispersion, and an excessive drift of the laser wavelength must be avoided by proper design. Received: 23 April 2002 / Published online: 25 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +41-1/633-1059, E-mail: Paschotta@iqe.phys.ethz.ch     

Michelson mode selectors and spatial hole burning in single-mode cw dye lasers

Single-mode selection with Michelson selectors in cw standing-wave dye lasers is analyzed. The application of single and double Michelson mode selectors for compensation of spatial hole burning effects is described in detail. Upper limits for the pumping are considered. It is shown that with spatial hole burning compensation, even the single Michelson selector provides sufficient selectivity for high power single-mode operation in linear cavities.     

Active synchronization of two mode-locked lasers with optical cross correlation

Two mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers of different wavelengths were precisely synchronized by a simple feedback system employing sum-frequency generation (cross correlation). When the timing error exceeded the pulse duration, the periodic bunch of the sum-frequency pulse was used for rough timing adjustment. Using cross correlation with a stretched pulse, we struck a balance between wide locking range and sensitive timing detection. When the two lasers were well-synchronized, we obtained a continuous cross-correlation pulse train for 3 min. The holding time of the laser synchronization was extended to over one hour by adding a motorized stage to the PZT-mounted cavity mirror. We estimated the rms timing jitter between the two lasers by a scanning cross-correlation measurement. We confirmed that the rms timing jitter of the two lasers during 1.8 s was 28 fs. Received: 30 January 2002 / Revised version: 14 June 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Diode-pumped ultra-short-pulse solid-state lasers

Many materials are good candidates for diode-pumped ultra-short-pulse lasers: several transition-metal-ion-doped crystals can or could support extremely short fs pulses. This goal, so far, has only been reached by Cr³⁺:LiSAF, but there are good chances for other crystals like Cr⁴⁺:YAG having its bandwidth within the third communication window, and the high-yield Cr²⁺:ZnSe with its impressive bandwidth in the near IR. Rare-earth-ion-doped media deliver only sub-ps pulses but allow unprecedented and scalable high average powers, like a SESAM mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk laser described recently. In all ranges of pulse durations there are fascinating applications ready for widespread employment as soon as compact, reliable and moderately priced ultra-short-pulse systems will be available for the non-laser-skilled user. The highest impact in the near future is attributed to microstructuring of materials and processing of biological samples, including dental enamel, by ps and sub-ps pulses, and optical coherence tomography needing pulses in the 10-fs regime at very modest average powers. Received: 29 June 2000 / Published online: 6 December 2000     

Simulation of turbulence in mode-locked lasers

We establish the connection between a paper by Kartner et al. [F.X. Kartner, D.M. Zumbuhl, N. Matuschek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 4428] entitled “Turbulence in mode-locked lasers”, and earlier work on the role of noise in mode-locked laser systems. We present numerical results that broadly support the analytical results of Kartner et al.     

Theory of active-passive mode-locking of solid-state lasers using a nonlinear mirror

The theory of active-passive mode-locked solid-state lasers is developed where the passive mode-locking is achieved by a nonlinear mirror. Steady-state cw numerical solutions are analyzed in detail for the case of a Nd: YAG laser. The steady-state pulse duration can be reduced by an order of magnitude as compared to the pure active mode-locking regime.On leave from Department of Quantum Electronics, Faculty of Physics, University of Sofia, BG-1126 Sofia, Bulgaria     

Pulse formation in synchronously pumped infrared dye lasers

Pulse formation in synchronously pumped dye lasers with fast relaxing dyes is treated by computer simulation. The influence of spontaneous emission and chirp, as well as cavity mismatch, on the pulse characteristics and stability of generation are discussed.     

Two-stage Raman converter covering the whole infrared spectrum with tunable solid-state lasers

A two-stage Raman-conversion system pumped with a Q-switched alexandrite laser is proposed for the generation of broadly tunable infrared radiation. The first stage is a high-pressure Raman cell which accepts a pump beam in long-focusing or parallel-beam geometry, while the successive second one is made of a multi-pass Raman cell with repeated focusing. Using a selected combination of vibrational or rotational Raman shifting by H₂, a spectrum ranging from 0.75 m to 15 m can be covered by this system.     

Broadly tunable femtosecond solid-state laser sources

The techniques of coupled-cavity modelocking and self-modelocking in which intensity-induced nonlinear effects are exploited have been reviewed for broad-band gain media. Particular emphases have been placed upon the archetypical colour-centre and titanium-sapphire laser configurations in which these techniques were first demonstrated and subsequent refinements are set in context. A femtosecond optical parametric oscillator pumped by a self-mode-locked titanium-sapphire laser has also been described as an exemplar of a practical means of extending the source tunability into the mid-infrared spectral region.     

New UV tunable solid-state lasers for lidar applications

We present the first lidar/DIAL system based on an Ultra Violet (UV) vibronic laser. A Nd:YAG-pumped Ce:LiSAF laser has been developed for this purpose, providing high pulse energy (5 mJ at 10 Hz), very high slope efficiency (33%), and a tuning range from 284 to 299 nm. Simultaneous measurements of SO₂ and O₃ concentration profiles are presented using this frequency-agile Ce:LiSAF-based lidar system.     

Additive pulse mode-locked Nd: YAG laser

Additive pulse mode locking applied to lamppumped Nd: YAG lasers results in an attractive source of picosecond pulses at 1.06 m or 1.32 m with average powers at the Watt level. We provide detailed information on construction and operation and give data on performance. A modified active stabilization scheme allows not only improved stability of operation but also insight into the dynamics of pulse formation.     

Self-compensation of thermal lens in high-power diode pumped solid-state lasers

We present a comprehensive model to describe the optic-thermal coupling in the diode pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSL). The thermal transition of particles at the upper laser level leads the heat-generation of laser crystals to depend on shape of the laser beam, while the laser field is also influenced by the temperature because of the thermal excitation of doped particles among various Stark levels. These effects, together with the usual thermal-optic effect that induces a fluctuation of the refraction index by an inhomogeneous temperature distribution, cause a complicated coupling between the laser field and the temperature field. We show that the optic-thermal coupling plays an important role in high-power DPSSL with larger size beam. That effect may yield a self-compensation for the thermal lens and improve the beam quality.     

Calculation of light pulses with chirp in passively mode-locked lasers taking into account the phase memory of absorber and amplifier

Starting from the complete set of Maxwell's equations and density matrix equations for the atomic systems, the change of amplitude and phase of light pulses in passing through absorbing and amplifying samples has been calculated by using certain approximations. It is shown that the phase modulation originates from saturation and phase memory in off-resonance interaction. The use of the simple rate-equation approximations.is only justified if saturation dominates. The full cavity round-trip equation has been established and solved for steady-state pulses under different conditions. For the case of pulses being outside resonance with the media we take into account a linear optical element for intracavity chirp compensation in order to describe the regime, where in experiment the shortest pulses have been found.