RESUMEN
We report on the ultralow timing jitter of the 100 MHz pulse trains generated by two identical passively mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSLs) emitting at 1556 nm. Ultralow timing jitter of 83 as (integrated from 10 kHz to 50 MHz) for one laser has been measured with a balanced optical cross-correlator as timing discriminator. Extremely low intensity noise has been measured as well. Several measurement techniques have been used and show similar jitter results. Different possible noise sources have been theoretically investigated and compared to the measured jitter power spectral density. It is found that although the measured integrated jitter is quite low, it is still significantly above the quantum limit in the considered frequency span. Therefore, there is a substantial potential for technical improvements that could make passively mode-locked DPSSL outperform fiber lasers as source of microwaves with low phase noise.
RESUMEN
We report on quantum-limited noise performance of a mode-locked ytterbium all-fiber laser. The laser operates at a high normal net dispersion without dispersion compensation. We show that the naïve application of analytical models to such lasers leads to strongly underestimated timing jitter, whereas a numerical simulation is in reasonable agreement with measurements. The measured timing phase noise is found to be essentially limited by quantum noise influences and not by technical noise. Furthermore we show that the phase noise of different comb lines has a quasi-fix point at the center of the optical spectrum and that the jitter is translated into high carrier-envelope offset phase noise with a linewidth of around 3 MHz.
RESUMEN
We report on nearly quantum-limited timing-jitter performance of two passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass lasers with a repetition rate of 10 GHz. The relative timing jitter of both lasers was measured to be 190 fs (100 Hz-1.56 MHz) root mean square. The remaining cavity-length fluctuations are below 7.5 pm in the 6 Hz-8 kHz frequency range, indicating the stability of a rugged miniature cavity setup. By actively controlling the cavity length we reduced the timing jitter to 26 fs (6 Hz-1.56 MHz). We also discuss the influence of cavity length on the practically achievable timing jitter.
RESUMEN
A diode-pumped Yb:YVO4 laser has been passively mode locked for the first time, to our knowledge. 120 fs pulses with an average output power of 300 mW and a peak power as high as 14.5 kW are obtained by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking. The optical spectrum has a 10 nm bandwidth (full width at half-maximum) and is centered at 1021 nm.
RESUMEN
We report on a simple diode-pumped passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass laser generating transform-limited 1536-nm solitons of 255-fs duration with a repetition rate of 50 MHz and average power of 58 mW. We also discuss timing jitter and the trade-off between short pulses and high output power in these lasers.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate an optically pumped passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser generating 4.7-ps pulses at 957 nm with as much as 2.1 W of average output power and a 4-GHz repetition rate. Compared with earlier results, the chirp of the pulses has been greatly reduced by use of an intracavity etalon. Apart from restricting the bandwidth, the etalon also helps optimize wavelength-dependent gain parameters and dispersion.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser operating on the 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition at 914 nm. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we have obtained 3-ps pulses at a repetition rate of 233.8 MHz. The laser is based on a standard delta cavity and is pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser. We obtained an average output power of 42 mW through one mirror and an accumulated output power of approximately 150 mW (through all cavity mirrors) at a pump power of 1.4 W.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a compact, diode-pumped Nd:GdVO4 laser with a repetition rate of 9.66 GHz and 0.5-W average output power. The laser is passively mode locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), yielding 12-ps-long sech2-shaped pulses. For synchronization of the pulse train to an external reference clock, the SESAM is mounted on a piezoelectric transducer. With an electronic feedback loop of only a few kilohertz loop bandwidth we achieved a rms timing jitter of 146 fs (integrated from 10 Hz to 10 MHz). This is an upper limit because it is mostly limited by the measurement system. The laser setup with a simple linear cavity has a footprint of only 130 mm x 30 mm.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a synchronously pumped high-gain optical parametric oscillator with feedback through a fiber, using a passively mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk laser as a pump source. We obtain as much as 19-W average signal power at a wavelength of 1.45 microm in 840-fs pulses and 7.8 W of idler power at 3.57 microm. The repetition rate of the pulses is 56 MHz, and the transverse beam quality of the generated signal is M2 < 1.6.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate that nonlinear fiber compression is possible at unprecedented average power levels by use of a large-mode-area holey (microstructured) fiber and a passively mode-locked thin disk Yb:YAG laser operating at 1030 nm. We broaden the optical spectrum of the 810-fs pump pulses by nonlinear propagation in the fiber and remove the resultant chirp with a dispersive prism pair to achieve 18 W of average power in 33-fs pulses with a peak power of 12 MW and a repetition rate of 34 MHz. The output beam is nearly diffraction limited and is linearly polarized.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a passively mode-locked diode-pumped thin-disk Yb:YAG laser generating 810-fs pulses at 1030 nm with as much as 60 W of average output power (without using an amplifier). At a pulse repetition rate of 34.3 MHz, the pulse energy is 1.75 microJ and the peak power is as high as 1.9 MW. The beam quality is close to the diffraction limit, with M2 < 1.1.
RESUMEN
We report on the development of what we consider to be a practical and highly stable stretched-pulse laser based on Yb(3+) -doped silica fiber. The Fabry-Perot cavity uses nonlinear polarization rotation as the mode-locking mechanism, and a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror to ensure robust self-starting and incorporates a diffraction grating pair to compensate for the normal dispersion of the fiber. Use of a single-mode grating-stabilized telecommunications-qualified pump laser diode ensures reliable, low-noise operation (~0.05% amplitude fluctuations at 10-Hz measurement bandwidth). The laser generates high-quality, 60-pJ pulses of <110-fs duration at a repetition rate of ~54 MHz (3-mW average power).
RESUMEN
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 .
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator that emits picosecond pulses at an ~1.55-mum wavelength with a repetition rate as a high as 10 GHz and as much as 100 mW of average power. It is pumped with a diode-pumped passively mode-locked 10-GHz Nd:YVO(4) laser. Because of its high repetition rate and its potential for ultrabroad tunability, this kind of system is useful for telecom applications. It should be scalable to 40 GHz and higher as required for future telecom networks.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first synchronously pumped high-gain optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with feedback through a single-mode fiber. This device generates 2.3-2.7 W of signal power in 700-900-fs pulses tunable in a wavelength range from 1429 to 1473 nm. The necessary high gain was obtained from a periodically poled LiTaO(3) crystal pumped with as much as 8.2 W of power at 1030 nm from a passively mode-locked Yb:YAG laser with 600-fs pulse duration and a 35-MHz repetition rate. The fiber-feedback OPO setup is compact because most of the resonator feedback path consists of a standard telecom fiber. Because of the high parametric gain, the fiber-feedback OPO is highly insensitive to intracavity losses. For the same reason, the synchronization of the cavity with the pump laser is not critical, so active stabilization of the cavity length is not required.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:YAG laser that generates solitonlike pulses with durations that are continuously tunable in a very wide range from 3.3 to 89 ps or from 0.83 to 1.57 ps. The average powers are typically ~12 W . Previously [Opt. Lett. 25, 859 (2000)], only pulse durations in a narrow range near 0.7 ps could be obtained from such lasers because of the effect of spatial hole burning. We achieved this much wider range by constructing a laser cavity with two different angles of incidence on the thin disk, which greatly reduces the effect of spatial hole burning.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a power-scalable concept for high-power all-solid-state femtosecond lasers, based on passive mode locking of Yb:YAG thin disk lasers with semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors. We obtained 16.2 W of average output power in pulses with 730-fs duration, 0.47-muJ pulse energy, and 560-kW peak power. This is to our knowledge the highest average power reported for a laser oscillator in the subpicosecond regime. Single-pass frequency doubling through a 5-mm-long lithium triborate crystal (LBO) yields 8-W average output power of 515-nm radiation.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Yb:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we obtain pulses of 176-fs duration with an average power of 1.1 W and a peak power of 64 kW at a center wavelength of 1037 nm. We achieve pulses as short as 112 fs at a lower output power. The laser is based on a standard delta cavity and pumped by two high-brightness laser diodes, making the whole system very simple and compact. Tuning the laser by means of a knife-edge results in mode-locked pulses within a wavelength range from 1032 to 1054 nm. In cw operation, we achieve output powers as high as 1.3 W.
RESUMEN
We demonstrate a passively Q-switched fiber laser system generating pulses with as much as 0.1 mJ of pulse energy at 1.53 mum and a >1-kHz repetition rate. These results were achieved with a simple master oscillator-power amplifier scheme with a single pump source, realized with large-mode-area fiber and multiple reflections upon a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror.
RESUMEN
We present a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10.7-W average output power in a diffraction-limited beam. Stable self-starting mode locking with a pulse duration of 16 ps and a pulse energy of 120 nJ is obtained with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. The laser is directly side pumped with two 20-W diode bars. Single-pass frequency doubling in an external 5-mm-thick KTP crystal yields 3.2-W average power at 532 nm.
