Highly compact and efficient femtosecond Cr:LiSAF lasers

Methods for developing more compact femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser sources are examined. By careful modeling of the low threshold performance and intracavity dispersion characteristics of these cavities, a highly asymmetric z-cavity design with a single prism for dispersion compensation is developed. Transform-limited pulses as short as 113 fs and modelocked output powers up to 20 mW are demonstrated for less than 110 mW of laser-diode pump power. The complete laser system (including the laser diode pump system and drivers) has a footprint of 21.5 × 28 cm², about the size of a sheet of US letter or A4 paper     

Generation of high-power femtosecond pulses near 1.5 μm using acolor-center laser system

The authors have developed a high-power F-center laser system capable of generating femtosecond pulses with energies exceeding 50 pJ at wavelengths near 1.5 μm. Short pulses (140 fs) from an additive-pulse mode-locked NaCl laser are amplified in a multipass NaCl amplifier at kilohertz repetition rates. The system can generate peak powers approaching 500 MW, with wavelengths tunable from 1.52 to 1.64 μm. The amplified pulses are used to generate a continuum in various solid media without optical damage. The continuum generated in BaF₂ is extremely broad, extending from below 400 nm to 3.5 μm. Construction and operating details are discussed as well as the system's utility for femtosecond measurements in the infrared and high-power experiments     

Performance of a continuous-wave forsterite laser with krypton ion,Ti:sapphire, and Nd:YAG pump lasers

The authors characterize continuous-wave operation of a chromium-doped forsterite (Cr⁴⁺:Mg₂SiO₄) laser using krypton ion, Ti:sapphire, and Nd:YAG lasers as pump sources. Measurements were made pumping at 647 nm and 676 nm with the krypton ion laser, between 690 and 1010 nm with the Ti:sapphire laser, and at 1.06 μm with the Nd:YAG laser. Threshold pump powers and slope efficiencies are compared for output coupler transmissions varying between 1 and 15.5%. Room-temperature operation was only achieved using the Nd:YAG pump laser. Forsterite laser output power as a function of both temperature and pumping wavelength is discussed     

Efficient, scalable, internally folded Nd:YAG laser end-pumped bylaser diodes

A scalable diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser is described in which the gain element resembles a penta-prism. This design allows longitudinal pumping along five separate axes. Using five high-power single stripe laser diodes, 4.16 W of absorbed power produced 2.3 W CW at 1.06 μm. The slope efficiency was 56%, the output was plane polarized, and the laser operated in the TEM₀₀ mode. The threshold power, was 48 mW. No evidence of thermal saturation was observed up to the maximum pump power. With an intracavity KTP crystal, 431 mW of CW amplitude-stable output at 532 nm was generated. Repetitive Q-switched operation is also reported     

2.4 μm波段全正色散飞秒克尔透镜锁模激光器（特邀）

2 μm波段的飞秒激光光源在高分辨分子光谱学、中红外光学频率梳产生和超宽光谱的中红外光源产生等方面都具有重要的应用价值。Cr: ZnS/ZnSe具有很宽的发射峰,使其成为该波段产生宽光谱短脉冲中红外飞秒激光的重要材料。全正色散锁模的飞秒激光由于更容易实现较短的脉冲宽度与较高的峰值功率而受到青睐。文中在Cr: ZnS上实现全正色散条件下的克尔透镜锁模运转。在5.1 W的泵浦功率下实现波长覆盖范围2.0~2.7 μm,平均功率660 mW,脉冲宽度37 fs的稳定锁模脉冲输出,这是首次在Cr: ZnS中实现全正色散锁模运转的固体激光器。Cr:ZnS 全正色散锁模的飞秒激光器在高分辨分子光谱学、宽光谱中红外光光源产生等方面具有广阔的应用前景。     

Tunable infrared generation using a femtosecond 250 kHz Ti:sapphireregenerative amplifier

A mode-locked Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system pumped with a single argon ion laser produces μJ energy 100 femtosecond pulses of 800 nm wavelength at 250 kHz repetition rate. Pumping a Type II BaB₂O₄ (BBO) optical parametric amplifiers (OPA) with this output generates 500 nJ infrared pulses and continuous tuning from 1.1 μm to beyond 2.5 μm. Difference frequency generation of the signal idler output from this OPA source in AgGaS₂ produces 60 nJ mid infrared pulses and continuous tuning from 2.4 μm to beyond 12 μm     

Tunable laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG microcrystal lasers at 1.4 μm

TEM₀₀ laser operation of a monolithic Nd:YAG crystal laser has been achieved on three transitions at 1.414 μm, 1.444 μm and at 1.431 μm with laser diode pumping at 808 nm. The laser threshold was 1.5 W and the maximum output power 50 mW. The gain linewidths at 1.414 μm and 1.444 μm were determined by means of temperature tuning the microcrystal lasers. Calculations for designing tunable single frequency microcrystal lasers have been performed     

Picosecond and femtosecond pulse generation in a regenerativelymode-locked Ti:sapphire laser

The authors have produced transform-limited pulses ranging from 100 ps to 40 fs duration from a Ti:sapphire laser. Output powers in excess of 1 W and peak powers of 0.5 MW have been observed. They describe the technique of regenerative mode locking and present evidence that a transient with a peak power of more than 10 kW is required to initiate mode locking. The role of group velocity dispersion is highlighted and a value of -750 fs² is measured for the group delay dispersion in an operating laser. The authors describe the limits on both the power and pulsewidth obtainable from this laser and present pulse compression experiments which produce 17 fs pulses with 70 mW of average power     

Intracavity 1.549-μm pumped 1.634-μm Er:YAG lasers at 300 K

A novel method of generating 1.634-μm laser action from Er:YAG crystals pumped intracavity by an Er:glass laser emitting at 1.549 μm is described. Operation of the Er:glass laser at 1.549 μm (red shifted from the standard 1.532 μm, but with comparable output) at 500 K was obtained using mirrors with tailored spectral reflectivities. Several Er:YAG crystals ranging in concentration from 0.3% to 2% and in length from 1 cm to 8 cm were lased in the intracavity pumping arrangement. All the Er:YAG crystals lased in the ⁴I_13/2 :Y1(6544 cm^-1)-⁴I_15/2:Z6(424 cm ^-1) 1.634-μm transition at 300 K     

`Field-usable' diode-pumped ~120 nm wavelength-tunable CW mid-IRfibre laser

The authors report continuously tunable (2.71 μm-2.83 μm) operation of a diode-pumped mid-IR Er-doped ZBLAN fibre laser, with output powers >1 mW over the entire 120 nm tuning range and >5 mW over 56 nm (2.78 μm to 2.83 μm) of this range     

高功率高重复频率飞秒掺镱光纤激光频率梳的研究(特邀)

飞秒光学频率梳在精密计量学和光谱学中扮演着革命性的推动角色,成为近二十年超短脉冲激光技术及应用研究领域最活跃的前沿方向之一。文中基于250 MHz重复频率（frep）的掺镱（Yb）光纤激光器,研究了不同腔内色散以及锁模机制对飞秒脉冲序列载波包络相位偏移频率（fCEO）噪声的影响。通过对飞秒光梳细节的优化,得到了49 dB信噪比的fCEO拍频信号并获得了秒稳3.210-10的锁定结果,同时frep的锁定结果也达到了到了秒稳3.410-13的精度。此外文中还研究了不同啁啾状态的种子光飞秒脉冲对基于大模场面积双包层Yb光子晶体光纤放大器输出光脉冲宽度的影响。以携带-3.8104 fs2预啁啾量的光脉冲作为种子光,在60 W 976 nm半导体激光泵浦下,获得了250 MHz重复频率、23 W平均功率和66 fs压缩后脉冲宽度的激光输出。     

High speed performance of 2-D vertical-cavity laser diode arrays

We have fabricated and tested 10×10 independently addressable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diode arrays. Arrays with 55 μm active diameter devices show an average threshold current density of 590 A/cm² and an excellent homogeneity of the output characteristics over the full array size with maximum CW output powers of 12 mW. Broad area laser diodes with active diameters of 75 μm reach output powers of 18 mW for CW operation and 180 mW under pulsed conditions. Small-signal modulation bandwidths are beyond 10 and 8 GHz for the 55 and 75 μm devices, respectively     

Er-doped superfluorescent fiber laser pumped by 1.48 μm laserdiode

Output power of 4 mW at an 80-mW pump power is reported for an Er-doped superfluorescent fiber laser pumped by a 1.48 μm laser diode. A stable spectrum profile of 2-nm bandwidth (FWHM) is observed at output powers above 1 mW. The degree of polarization was observed, and it was found that more than 99.8% of the light was unpolarized within the limit of experimental error     

呼吸脉冲锁模的光子晶体光纤飞秒激光器

报道了一种掺Yb偏振型大模场面积光子晶体光纤(LMA-PCF)飞秒激光器。作为增益介质的光子晶体光纤的单模场面积比传统光纤高一个数量级,有效地降低了非线性系数,使激光器获得高能量输出。激光器基于线形腔结构,利用半导体可饱和吸收镜实现自启动锁模。光纤激光器利用光栅对进行腔内色散补偿,使其运转在呼吸脉冲锁模状态,即在谐振腔的零色散点附近实现锁模。当腔内净色散呈反常色散时,激光器获得了平均功率为400mW,重复频率为47MHz(对应于8.5nJ的单脉冲能量),脉冲宽度为500fs的稳定的锁模脉冲输出,经腔外色散补偿,脉冲压缩至98fs。当腔内净色散呈正常色散时,激光器输出的单脉冲能量为10.6nJ,脉冲宽度为1.76ps,经腔外色散补偿,脉冲压缩至160fs。     

Ultrashort optical pulse generation with a mode-locked long-wavelength (1075-1085 nm) InGaAs-GaAs semiconductor laser

Optical pulses are generated by passive and hybrid mode-locking of a long wavelength (1075-1085 nm) InGaAs-GaAs ridge waveguide laser grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The devices are fabricated with two sections, one of which contains a bend in the waveguide for coupling to an external linear cavity. Pulses 2-5 ps in duration have been generated with average powers ranging from 750 /spl mu/W to 1.8 mW. Pulse compression yields durations as short as 570 fs. Post amplification with a narrow stripe InGaAs-GaAs semiconductor optical amplifier increases the average output power up to 13 mW.     

Mid-infrared fluoride fiber lasers in multiple cascade operation

CW fiber laser cascades in an Er³⁺-doped fluorozirconate fiber operating simultaneously at 2.7 μm/1.55 μm or at 3.45 μm/2.7 μm/1.55 μm pumped around 650 nm are reported. Output powers of nearly 20 mW at 1.55 μm and 1.2 mW around 2.7 μm were obtained with a nonoptimized experimental setup for the 2.7 μm/1.55 μm cascade. At 1.55 μm a laser efficiency of 5% was achieved. By varying the parameters of the experimental setup, additional effective simultaneous laser action at 3.45 μm was demonstrated     

980 nm高功率垂直腔面发射激光器

研究了 980nm垂直腔面发射激光器 (VCSEL)的结构设计和器件制作 ,实现了室温下的脉冲激射。在脉宽为 5 0 μs,占空比为 5∶10 0 0的脉冲电流下 ,直径 4 0 0 μm的器件输出光功率最高可达 380mW ,发散角小于 10° ,光谱的半高全宽为 0 8nm。     

Femtosecond Cr:forsterite laser with mode locking initiated by aquantum-well saturable absorber

We studied a mode-locked Cr:forsterite laser pumped by a diode pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser. Both the Kerr lens mode locking and the semiconductor saturable absorber initiated mode locking have been demonstrated. Using our measured dispersion data of the forsterite crystal, together with our dispersion compensation technique, we obtained 20-fs pulses for the pure Kerr lens mode locking and 36-fs pulses for semiconductor saturable absorber initiated mode locking, respectively     

Modulation instability and soliton-Raman generation inP2O5 doped silica fiber

Generation of high-repetition-rate modulation instability pulse trains and high- energy soliton-Raman pulses of ≃60 fs durations, in a single-mode P₂O₅-doped silica fiber, is reported. The 7 mol.% concentration P₂O₅ fiber was pumped in a single pass arrangement by a Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser operated at 1.319 μm. Operating in the region of zero second-order dispersion, modulation instability Stokes sideband seeded resonantly cascade stimulated Raman scattering associated with Si-O-Si and P=0 vibration modes of the fiber. As a result, broad bandwidth and widely tunable 1.36-1.80 μm femtosecond pulses were obtained     

Kilohertz gain-switched laser operation and femtosecondregenerative amplification in Cr:forsterite

We present a comprehensive study of the optimum operating regime in a gain-switched Cr:forsterite laser at a repetition frequency of 1 kHz with special attention to temperature-dependent and parasitic absorption effects and proper resonator design. On the basis of the results achieved, me demonstrate highly efficient (13% extraction efficiency) operation of a femtosecond regenerative amplifier based on Cr:forsterite and operating near room temperature with a novel BBO Pockels cell that is highly resistant to optical damage. Chirped pulse amplification raises the pulse energy to 355 μJ in ≈30 cavity round trips which corresponds to an amplification factor of ≈5.5×10⁵. The nearly transform limited 200-μJ 135-fs compressed pulses near 1.25 μm have a peak power of ≈1.5 GW. Frequency doubling with 52% conversion efficiency in LBO produces femtosecond pulses of 104-μJ energy in the visible near 625 nm