Fluoride semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for ultrashort pulse generation

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first ultrabroadband monolithically grown AlGaAs/CaF(2) semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror (SESAM) that covers nearly the entire gain spectrum of a Ti:sapphire laser. A large high-reflectivity bandwidth of more than 300 nm is provided by a device consisting of only six material layers. This fluoride SESAM had a modulation depth of 2.2%, a fast recovery time constant of less than 150 fs, and a slow recovery time constant of 1.2 ps. Using this SESAM inside a Ti:sapphire laser produced self-starting sub-10-femtosecond pulses.     

High-power passive mode-locking of a diode pumped Yb:GdVO4 laser

Passive mode-locking of a diode pumped Yb-doped GdVO₄ crystal laser was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. The laser was mode-locked at the wavelength of 1019.1 nm and had an average output power of 1.01 W. The mode-locked pulse duration was 3.1 ps. The laser was end-pumped by a high-power fiber pigtailed laser diode bar and the mode-locking was enabled by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM).     

低阈值掺钛蓝宝石激光器实验研究

结合特殊的谐振腔设计和半导体可饱和吸收镜，建成了一台低阈值的自启动掺钛宝石激光器 . 分别用3％和12％的输出耦合镜，获得了阈值低至390mW和600mW的稳定锁模脉冲输出. 采 用12％输出耦合镜，在12W抽运时，输出平均功率为114mW，对应的典型脉宽为17fs，谱宽 为47nm. 相对于以往的低阈值克尔透镜锁模激光器，锁模工作的范围区域加宽，减小了操作 难度，提高了稳定性. 关键词： 低阈值 半导体可饱和吸收镜 克尔透镜锁模 掺钛蓝宝石激光器     

Dual-wavelength asynchronous and synchronous mode-locking operation by a Nd:CLTGG disordered crystal

We have developed a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd³⁺:CLTGG laser operated at 1059 and 1061 nm with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The relative intensity of the two spectrum wavelengths is adjustable, allowing asynchronous and synchronous generation of the dual-wavelength pulses. In synchronous mode-locking regime, a total average output power of 383 mW was obtained with pulse duration of 3.5 ps and repetition rate of 42 MHz. The two spectral bands of 1059 and 1061 nm had the same intensities and areas, indicating 1:1 for the pulse energy ratio. It is desirable for efficiently generating a terahertz wave by difference-frequency generation.     

Diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:GGG laser with a semiconductor saturable mirror

We report on the passive mode-locking of a diode-end-pumped neodymium-doped gadolinium gallium garnet (Nd:GGG) crystal with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). Continuous wave (CW) mode-locking was obtained. The mode-locked pulse duration was estimated to be ∼17.5 ps with a maximum average output power of 0.4 W. The mode-locked pulses have a repetition rate of 121.5 MHz. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of passive mode-locking of the diode pumped Nd:GGG lasers.     

Passive mode-locking in diode-pumped c-cut Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror

We demonstrated a diode-pumped passively mode-locked c-cut Nd:LuVO₄ picosecond laser with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror (SESAM) at a wavelength of 1067.8 nm. Due to the wide bandwidth of 0.48 nm, stable mode-locking has been generated with a duration as short as 3.7 ps, which is shorter than for the a-cut Nd:LuVO₄ laser. A maximum output power of 1.67 W was achieved to give a highest peak power of 3.47 KW at 18 W absorbed pump power.     

Stable mode-locking in an Yb:YAG laser with a fast SESAM

Stable mode-locking in a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser was obtained with a very fast semiconductor sat-urable absorber mirror (SESAM). The pulse width was measured to be 4 ps at the central wavelength of 1047 nm. The average power was 200 mW and the repetition rate was 200 MHz.     

半导体可饱和吸收镜被动锁模侧面抽运Nd:YAG激光器研究

利用半导体可饱和吸收镜(SESAM)锁模技术实现的超快脉冲激光器具有结构简单紧凑、脉冲序列稳定等优势,在许多领域有着重要用途,自问世以来受到国内外的广泛关注.分析了SESAM被动锁模侧面抽运固体激光器的具体要求,进行了不同条件下的SESAM被动锁模侧面抽运Nd:YAG激光器实验.获得了最高平均功率9.5 W,脉冲重复频率71 MHz,单脉冲能量约141 nJ的皮秒激光脉冲.对SESAM被动锁模侧面抽运Nd:YAG激光器进行了实验和理论分析,对实现高功率连续超短脉冲激光器进行了探讨.     

半导体可饱和吸收镜实现固体激光器皮秒锁模的机理研究

对半导体可饱和吸收镜(SESAM)实现固体激光器皮秒锁模的机理进行了研究。通过对染料锁模介质和SESAM的结构对比,对SESAM皮秒锁模机理提出了一个新的解释。其在锁模激光器中充当锁模器件时,不仅仅是一个吸收体,同时也是一个增益介质。当腔内增益和损耗保持平衡时实现稳定的连续锁模。     

用腔内半导体可饱和吸收镜钛宝石激光器中自锁模状态的实验研究

用可饱和吸收体镜(SESAM)的掺钛蓝宝石激光器能够稳定运转在三种不同的锁模状态,即可饱和吸收体被动锁模、孤子锁模加被动锁模和KLM锁模.分析了三种自锁模的机理和SESAM的作用.对SESAM实现KLM锁模的自启动机制进行了实验观察和讨论.从该激光器的KLM锁模状态,获得了小于18飞秒的锁模脉冲序列. 关键词： 半导体可饱和吸收镜 自锁模 钛宝石激光器     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:CLNGG laser

Passive mode-locking of a diode-pumped Nd:CLNGG laser was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. The laser operated at a central wavelength of 1061.2 nm with a maximum average output power of 101 mW. The mode-locked pulses have pulse duration of 2.0 ps, a spectral bandwidth of 1.2 nm and a repetition rate of 88.4 MHz. The mode locking of the laser was enabled by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM).     

Contrastive study of two SESAMs for passive mode-locking in Nd:YVO4 laser with low pump power

Two semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs), of which one is coated with 50% reflection film on the top and the other is not, were contrastively studied in passively mode-locked solid-state lasers which were pumped by low output power laser diode (LD). Experiments have shown that reducing the modulation depth of SESAM by coating partial reflection film, whose reflectivity is higher than that between SESAM and air interface, is an effective method to get continuous wave (CW) mode-locking instead of Q-switched power LD, in which no water-cooling system was used, could obtain CW mode-locking by the 50% reflector coated SESAM with average output power of ～ 20 mW.     

Passive mode-locking of the Yb:CNGG laser

Passive mode-locking using a SESAM is demonstrated for the Yb-doped cubic non-stoichiometric crystal CNGG which exhibits local disorder. The pulse duration of 73 fs obtained is the shortest for an isotropic Yb-doped laser crystal while larger output coupling resulted in average output powers of 750 mW with 66% efficiency in the mode-locked regime.     

Self-starting mode-locked picosecond Ti：sapphire laser by using of a fast SESAM

A stable continuous wave mode-locked picosecond Ti:sapphire laser by using a fast semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) is demonstrated. The laser delivers pulse width of 20 ps at a central wavelength of 813 nm and a repetition rate of 100 MHz. The maximum output power is 1.34 W with pump power of 7 W which corresponds to an optical--optical conversion efficiency of 19.1%.     

半导体可饱和吸收镜锁模的钒酸盐混晶Nd:Gd0.1Y0.9VO4激光器

采用Nd∶Gd_0.1Y_0.9VO₄晶体作为增益介质和Z形腔结构,分析比较了腔内加入自行设计的镀和不镀高反膜的半导体可饱和吸收镜（SESAM）对激光锁模的影响.在腔内加入镀膜SESAM后,激光锁模阈值由1.69W下降为1.45W,并且锁模更稳定.在2W抽运功率下,在1064nm中心波长处获得了双端250mW的连续锁模输出,光光转换效率为12.5%,重复频率为142.25MHz. 关键词： 0.1Y_0.9VO₄激光器')" href="#">Nd∶Gd_0.1Y_0.9VO₄激光器 半导体可饱和吸收镜 连续锁模     

Side-pumped continuous-wave passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser by using non-antiresonant SESAM

A new type semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), which is not fulfilled antiresonance condition, was used in a side-pumped Nd:YAG laser. Experiment results show that stabilized continuous-wave mode-locking can successfully be obtained in picosecond regime by a nonantiresonant SESAM. Because the bandwidth of picosecond regime mode-locked pulse is not broad; therefore, the antiresonant factor of SESAMs, which are used in picosecond mode-locked lasers, can be omitted when the SESAMs are designed and fabricated. Without the limit of antiresonance condition, the difficulty of design and growth will decrease significantly and there will be more freedom in considering the modulation depth.     

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

We present the first passively modelocked thin disk laser (TDL) with sub-100-fs pulse duration using the broadband sesquioxide gain material Yb:LuScO₃ and an optimized SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM). In this proof-of-principle experiment, we obtained 5.1 W of average power at a repetition rate of 77.5 MHz and a pulse duration of 96 fs. We carefully explored and optimized the different parameters on the soliton pulse formation process for the generation of short pulses. In particular, SESAMs combining fast recovery time, high modulation depth and low nonsaturable losses proved crucial to achieve this result even though they are expected to only play a minor role in soliton modelocking. To our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever obtained with a modelocked TDL, reaching for the first time the sub-100-fs milestone. This result opens the door to sub-100-fs oscillators with substantially higher power levels in the near future.     

Passively mode-locked Nd:GGG laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

The mode-locking operation of the Nd:GGG crystal with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) was demonstrated. Continuous wave (CW) mode-locking was obtained with the pulse duration of 11 ps and the pulse repetition rate of 40.38 MHz. At 7 W of pump power, the maximum average output power of 1.1 W was obtained with the slope efficiency of 18.1%.     

Diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:CaNb2O6 laser

We report to our knowledge a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:CaNb(2)O(6) (Yb:CN) laser for the first time. Both CW and passive mode-locking operation of the laser are experimentally investigated. A maximum CW output power of 1.4 W with a slope efficiency of 20% is obtained on a 7 mm long 1.5 at.% Yb:CN crystal, while stable passive mode-locking with a commercial semiconductor saturable absorption mirror (SESAM) was achieved on a 3 mm long 3 at.% Yb:CN crystal. The mode-locked pulses have pulse width of 251 fs and an average output power of 44 mW at 1038 nm.     

Tunable, low-repetition-rate, cost-efficient femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser for nonlinear microscopy

We report on a broadly tunable, long-cavity Ti:sapphire laser oscillator being mode-locked in the net negative intracavity dispersion regime by Kerr-lens mode-locking, delivering τ _FWHM<300 fs pulses at 22 MHz repetition rate. The wavelength of the laser can be tuned over a 170 nm wide range between 712 nm and 882 nm. Having a typical pump power of 2.6 W, the maximum pulse peak power is 60 kW. Comparison of the reported laser with a standard, 76 MHz Ti:sapphire oscillator regarding two-photon excitation efficiency in a laser scanning microscope shows that the 22 MHz laser generates the same fluorescence signal at considerably, 1.82 times lower average power, which is expected to result in a reduced photothermal damage probability of biological samples. This fact along with the broad tunability and a low pump power requirement makes this cost-effective laser an ideal light source for nonlinear microscopy.