New green self-frequency-doubling diode-pumped Nd:Ca4GdO(BO3)3 laser

3+ :Ca₄GdO(BO₃)₃ (Nd:GdCOB). 21 mW of green cw laser emission for an absorbed pump power of 820 mW were achieved under laser diode-pumping. 64 mW of green cw laser output were obtained with 1 W of absorbed pump power under titanium-sapphire pumping. Its availability in large-size crystals with good optical quality makes Nd:GdCOB a true challenger to the best SFD laser crystal reported so far: Nd:YAl₃(BO₃)₄ (Nd:YAB or NYAB). Received: 2 March 1998/Revised version: 20 May 1998     

Generation of 12-fs pulses from a diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser

We demonstrate 12-fs-pulse generation from a diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser. This is to our knowledge the shortest pulse ever produced from a mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser. Based on an improved estimation of the intracavity dispersions, we utilized BK7 glass for the Brewster-prism-pair material.     

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     

Generation of sub-100-fs pulses from a diode-pumped Yb:Y_3ScAl_4O_(12) ceramic laser

We experimentally demonstrate the generation of sub-100-fs pulses from a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:Y_3 ScAl_4O_(12)(Yb:YSAG) ceramic laser. Stable mode-locked pulses as short as 96 fs at the central wavelength of 1052 nm with a repetition rate of ～102 MHz are obtained. The laser has a maximum average output power of 51 mW. To the best of our knowledge, these are so far the shortest pulses and the first demonstration of sub-100-fs pulses obtained from the mode-locked Yb:YSAG ceramic lasers.     

240-fs pulses with 22-W average power from a mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser. The laser produces pulses of 240-fs duration with an average power of 22 W at a center wavelength of 1028 nm. At a pulse repetition rate of 25 MHz, the pulse energy is 0.9microJ , and the peak power is as high as 3.3 MW. The beam quality is very close to the diffraction limit, with M(2)=1.1 .     

47-fs diode-pumped Yb3+:CaGdAlO4 laser

The experimental demonstration of a diode-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond laser based on an Yb3+:CaGdAlO4 single crystal is reported. The oscillator is directly diode pumped by a high-brightness 5 W fiber coupled laser diode, and pulses are produced by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. It permits the production of pulses as short as 47 fs at 1050 nm, which are to our knowledge the shortest laser pulses obtained from an oscillator based on Yb3+-doped bulk materials. The average power is 38 mW, and the repetition rate is 109 MHz.     

Efficient continuous-wave self-frequency-doubling green diode-pumped Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) lasers

Efficient cw self-frequency-doubled green laser output of 160 mW has been obtained from Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) crystal pumped by 1.4-W incident power from a fiber-coupled 976-nm laser diode. The incident-pump-power-green-output-power conversion efficiency is greater than 11.3%, and the electrical-input-green conversion efficiency is 3.9%. Tunable green output from 513.0 to 545.8 nm is also demonstrated with a quartz birefringent filter.     

60-fs pulses from a diode-pumped Nd:glass laser

We demonstrate 60-fs pulses with an average output power of 84 mW from a diode-pumped Nd:glass laser mode locked by a low-finesse antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber (A-FPSA). The mode-locked spectrum spreads over most of the available Nd:glass fluorescence bandwidth. At increased pulse energy fluence or decreased negative group-velocity dispersion, multiple pulsing was observed. We experimentally characterize this behavior, which can be explained by the saturation behavior of the A-FPSA and the limited available gain bandwidth. These considerations are significant for the design of saturable absorbers to achieve stable passive mode locking.     

Generation of 20-fs pulses by a prismless Cr(4+):YAG laser

Ultrafast optical pulses shorter than 20 fs with 400-mW average power at a 110-MHz repetition rate have been generated by a Cr(4+):YAG laser with only double-chirped mirrors for dispersion compensation. The corresponding pulse spectrum has a peak intensity at 1450 nm and extends from 1310 to 1500 nm full width at half-maximum (FWHM). These pulses, which are believed to be the shortest generated to date from a Cr(4+):YAG laser, are only four optical cycles within the FWHM intensity width.     

Passive mode locking of a self-frequency-doubling Yb:YAl(3) (BO(3))(4) laser

We report passive mode-locking experiments with a novel self-doubling laser crystal Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) (Yb:YAB). The diode-pumped laser was mode locked by an ion-implanted semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Far off phase matching, soliton mode locking produced pulse widths of 198 fs to 1.4 ps, with up to 660-mW output and optical efficiency of 24% at 1040 nm. The shortest pulses had a peak power of 28 kW with 440-mW average power and 16% efficiency. A few degrees off phase matching, a total of 60 mW of green femtosecond pulses was generated simultaneously. Close to phase matching, the laser produced picosecond pulses and, without infrared output, a total of 270 mW of green output, corresponding to 10% conversion efficiency (absorbed pump to green output).     

Passively Q-switched microchip Er, Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 diode-pumped laser

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, a diode-pumped cw and passively Q-switched microchip Er, Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) laser. A maximal output power of 800 mW at 1602 nm in the cw regime was obtained at an absorbed pump power of 7.7 W. By using Co(2+):MgAl(2)O(4) as a saturable absorber, a TEM(00)-mode Q-switched average output power of 315 mW was demonstrated at 1522 nm, with pulse duration of 5 ns and pulse energy of 5.25 μJ at a repetition rate of 60 kHz.     

Efficient 1 W continuous-wave diode-pumped Er,Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser

We report the spectroscopy and high-power continuous-wave (CW) diode-pumped laser operation of Er:Yb:YAl3(BO3) crystal. Absorption and stimulated emission spectra, emission lifetimes, and efficiency of energy transfer from Yb3+ to Er3+ ions were determined. A CW Er:Yb:YAB laser emitting at 1602, 1555, and 1531 nm with output power as high as 1W and slope efficiency up to 35% was demonstrated.     

Diode-pumped Yb:Sr(3)Y(BO(3))(3) femtosecond laser

We have developed a diode-pumped Yb(3+)Sr(3)Y(BO(3))(3) (Yb:BOYS) laser generating 69-fs pulses, at a central wavelength of 1062 nm. This laser is mode locked by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror and emits 80 mW of average power at 113 MHz. This is, to our knowledge, the first mode-locked Yb:BOYS laser and the shortest duration obtained from an ytterbium laser with a crystalline host. The central wavelength can be tuned from 1051 to 1070 nm, for sub-100-fs pulses. We have also achieved an average power as high as 300 mW with pulse duration of 86 fs at 1068 nm.     

Generation of sub-10-fs pulses from a Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr(3+):LiCAF laser oscillator by use of third-order dispersion-compensating double-chirped mirrors

Pulses as short as 9 fs at 220-mW average power and a 97-MHz repetition rate are generated from a cw Ti:sapphire-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr(3+)LiCAF laser oscillator employing broadband double-chirped mirrors for second- and third-order dispersion compensation. Fine adjustment of dispersion is accomplished with a fused-silica prism pair. The result demonstrates that Raman-induced self-frequency shifting of the pulse does not limit sub-10-fs pulse generation from colquiriite crystals.     

Diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser

A self-starting Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser directly end pumped by two 1.6-W diodes is demonstrated for what is to our knowledge the first time. Pulses as short as 71 fs with 120-mW average output power, at a center wavelength of 1057 nm, were obtained at a repetition rate of 110 MHz. A 10-nm tuning range was achieved with longer pulses and higher average output power.     

Microjoule pulses from a passively mode-locked Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) thin-disk oscillator with cavity dumping

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a passively mode-locked femtosecond thin-disk oscillator with cavity dumping. A beta-barium-borate-based pockels cell imposes cavity dumping at a repetition rate of 1 MHz. The laser generates pulse energies up to 3 microJ with a pulse duration of 680 fs in a diffraction-limited beam.     

Efficient femtosecond green-light source with a diode-pumped mode-locked Yb3+:KY(WO4)2 laser

Efficient generation of femtosecond pulses at 524 nm is demonstrated by the extracavity frequency doubling of the output of a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb3+:KY(WO4)2 laser using a periodically poled LiTaO3 crystal. An average second-harmonic power of 120 mW is produced at an internal conversion efficiency of 40%. The temporal characteristics of the frequency-doubled pulses as a function of focusing conditions in a thick nonlinear crystal are investigated experimentally, and pulses as short as 225 fs are generated at a pulse repetition frequency of 86 MHz.     

Dual-polarization and dual-wavelength diode-pumped laser operation from a birefringent Yb3+-doped GdAl3(BO3)4 nonlinear crystal

From two positions of the concave output mirror of the laser cavity, diode-pumped ordinary or extraordinary polarization lasing of an Yb³⁺-doped GdAl₃(BO₃)₄ nonlinear birefringent crystal is obtained. Translating the mirror at an intermediate position, simultaneous ordinary and extraordinary polarization lasing at 1046 (2.5 nm FWHM) and 1040 nm (2.2 nm FWHM), respectively, is obtained with up to 53% slope efficiency. Using a YAG:Cr⁴⁺ saturable absorber for passive Q-switching the cavity, ordinary and extraordinary pulses are obtained with an energy as high as 236 μJ and with about 30 ns duration. The two pulses of orthogonal polarizations can be separated by up to a few hundred ns, depending on the experimental conditions. The simultaneity of the pulses is observed but is difficult to maintain. A model constituted by two coupled equations reproduces reasonably well the experimental data. Repetition rates up to 3 kHz have been explored, corresponding to 4.65 W absorbed pump power. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd; 42.25.Ja     

Room-temperature diode-pumped Yb:KYF(4) laser

Continuous-wave laser action has been demonstrated in a diode-pumped Yb:KYF(4) crystal. Crystal growth, spectroscopic measurements, and laser results are presented. A maximum output power of 505 mW, a slope efficiency of 43%, and a continuous wavelength tunability range of 65nm, from 1013 to 1078 nm, have been obtained at room temperature.     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Er,Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser at 1.5-1.6 microm

We report the first demonstration to our knowledge of passive mode locking in a diode-pumped Er(3+) and Yb(3+) codoped YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) laser operating in the 1.5-1.6 microm spectral region. Low-loss GaInNAs quantum-well semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are used for the initiation and stabilization of the ultrashort-pulse generation. Pulses as short as 4.8 ps were generated at 1530 nm with an average output power up to 280 mW for 2 W of absorbed pump power produced by a high-brightness tapered 980 nm laser diode. Passive mode locking has also been demonstrated around 1555 nm with typical average powers of around 100 mW and pulse durations of 5.1 ps.