Materials and new approaches for ultrashort pulse lasers

Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science

Volumn 1, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 218-224

  Keller, Ursula ^a  

^a ETH ZURICH   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0347211627     PISSN: 13590286     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S1359-0286(96)80087-8     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Valdmanis JA, Fork RL: Design considerations for a femtosecond pulse laser balancing self phase modulation, group velocity dispersion, saturable absorption, and saturable gain. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1986, 22:112-118.
2. Fork RL, Cruz CHB, Becker PC, Shank CV: Compression of optical pulses to six femtoseconds by using cubic phase compensation. Optics Lett 1987, 12:483-485.
3. 3. J Opt Soc Am-Opt Physics B 1986, 3:125-132.
4. Spence DE, Kean PN, Sibbett W: 60-fsec pulse generation from a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Optics Lett 1991, 16:42-44.
5. Keller U, Hooft GW, Knox WH, Cunningham JE: Femtosecond Pulses from a Continuously Self-Starting Passively Mode-Locked Ti:Sapphire Laser. Optics Lett 1991, 16:1022-1024.
6. Negus DK, Spinelli L, Goldblatt N, Feugnet G: Sub-100 femtosecond pulse generation by Kerr lens modelocking In Ti:Sapphire. In Advanced Solid-State Lasers, vol 10. Edited by Dubé G, Chase L. Washington DC: Optical Society of America; 1991:120-124.
7. Salin F, Squier J, Piché M: Modelocking of Ti:Sapphire lasers and self-focusing: a Gaussian approximation. Optics Lett 1991, 16:1674-1676.
8. Zhou J, Taft G, Huang C-P, Murnane MM, Kapteyn HC, Christov IP: Pulse evolution in a broad-bandwidth Ti:sapphire laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:1149-1151.
9. Spielmann C, Curley PF, Brabec T, Krausz F: Ultrabroadband Femtosecond Lasers. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1994, 30:1100-1114. A review article about the work of this group. They discuss in detail the influence of higher order dispersion such as the Kelly sidebands due to third order dispersion.
10. Fork RL, Martinez OE, Gordon JP: Negative dispersion using pairs of prisms. Optics Lett 1984, 9:150-152.
11. Ferencz K, Szipöcs R: Recent developments of laser optical coatings in Hungary. Opt Eng 1993, 32:2525-2538.
12. Szipöcs R, Ferencz K, Spielmann C, Krausz F: Chirped multilayer coatings for broadband dispersion control in femtosecond lasers. Optics Lett, 1994, 19:201-203.
13. Szipöcs R, Stingl A, Spielmann C, Krausz F: Chirped dielectric mirrors for dispersion control in femtosecond laser systems. In Proceedings of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) 1995, vol 2377. Edited by Wise FW and Barty ChPJ. Washington DC: SPIE; 1995:11-22. A detailed description of the chirped mirror design for ultrashort pulse generation.
14. Stingl A, Lenzner M, Spielmann C, Krausz F, Szipöcs R: Sub-10-fs mirror-controlled Ti:sapphire laser. Optics Lett 1995, 20:602-604. Chirped mirrors are used to reduce higher order dispersion which results in stable < 10fs pulse generation. The mode-locking is based on KLM and is therefore not self-starting. A special but not specified selection of chirped mirrors was necessary to obtain these pulses.
15. Christov IP, Kapteyn HC, Murnane MM, Huang CP, Zhou J: Space-time focusing of femtosecond pulses in a Ti:sapphire laser. Optics Lett 1995, 20:309-311.
16. Cerullo G, Silvestri SD, Magni V, Pallaro L: Resonators for Kerrlens mode-locked femtosecond Ti:sapphire lasers. Optics Lett 1994, 19:807-809. Self-starting KLM is achieved with a clever resonator design optimization described in this paper.
17. Cerullo G, Silvestri SD, Magni V: Self-starting Kerr lens mode-locking of a Ti:sapphire laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:1040-1042.
18. Kärtner FX, Kopf O, Keller U: Solitary pulse stabilization and shortening in actively mode-locked lasers. J Opt Soc Am B-Opt Physics 1995, 12:486-496. This paper gives an analytical solution, based on soliton perturbation theory, to active mode-locking in the soliton regime. With sufficiently large GVD, a short soliton-like pulse can be stabilized by the mode-locker. This theory can then be extended to include passive mode-locking with a slow saturable absorber [19••].
19. Kärtner FX, Keller U: Stabilization of sollton-like pulses with a slow saturable absorber. Optics Lett 1995, 20:16-18. A theoretical discussion of soliton mode-locking using a slow saturable absorber with no additional pulse-to-pulse modulation of gain saturation. An analytical solution for the pulse duration and its stability requirements is presented.
20. Jung ID, Kärtner FX, Brovelli LR, Kamp M, Keller U: Experimental verification of soliton modelocking using only a slow saturable absorber. Optics Lett 1995, 20:1892-1894. The first experimental confirmation of soliton mode-locking.
21. Kopf D, Kärtner F, Weingarten KJ, Keller U: Pulse shortening in a Nd:glass laser by gain reshaping and soliton formation. Optics Lett 1994, 19:2146-2148.
22. Kärtner FX: Theory of soliton-modelocked solid state lasers. IX International Symposium on Ultrafast Processes in Spectroscopy (UPS'95) 1995 paper MA3.
23. Fluck R, Jung ID, Zhang G, Kärtner FX, Keller U: Broadband saturable absorber for 10 fs pulse generation. Optics Lett 1996, in press. The main limitation for pulse width reduction below ≈ 20 fs was the band-wdth of the lower AlGaAs/AlAs Bragg mirror in the A-FPSA. We therefore replaced this mirror with a silver mirror and demonstrated self-starting 10 fs pulses still using a semiconductor saturable absorber inside the laser cavity.
24. Keller U, Miller DAB, Boyd GD, Chiu TH, Ferguson JF, Asom MT: Solid-state low-loss intracavity saturable absorber for Nd:YLF lasers: an antlresonant semiconductor Fabry-Perot saturable absorber. Optics Lett 1992, 17:505-507.
25. Keller U: Ultrafast all-solid state laser technology. Appl Phys B-Lasers Opt 1994, 58:347-363. A review article on passive picosecond pulse generation using Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF lasers.
26. Hönninger C, Zhang G, Keller U, Giesen A: Femtosecond Yb:YAG laser using semiconductor saturable absorbers. Optics Lett 1995, 20:2402-2404. This paper explains in detail the difference between high-finesse and low-finesse A-FPSAs. The higher top reflector of the high-finesse A-FPSA can be used as an additional parameter to adjust for higher power levels.
27. Braun B, Kärtner FX, Keller U, Meyn J-P, Huber G, Chiu TH: Passively Q-switched monolithic lasers using an A-FPSA. In OSA Proceedings in Advanced Solid State Lasers 1995, vol 24. Edited by Chai BHT and Payne SA. Washington DC: Optical Society of America (OSA); 1995:434-437.
28. 4 and Nd:YLF lasers using semiconductor saturable absorbers. Advanced Solid-State Lasers: Technical Digest Series Washington DC: Optical Society of America; 1996:375-377.
29. Kopf D, Kärtner FX, Weingarten KJ, Keller U: Diode-pumped modelocked Nd:glass lasers using an A-FPSA. Optics Lett 1995, 20:1169-1171. Nd:glass attracts interest as a laser medium for femtosecond pulse generation. These lasers are inexpensive, have broad emission bandwidths of 20-30 nm to suppport 100 fs pulses at a wavelength of ≈ 1.05 μm and they can be pumped with commercially available laser diodes. Different types of Nd:glass materials are compared.
30. Kopf D, Weingarten KJ, Brovelli L, Kamp M, Keller U: Diode-pumped 100-fs passively mode-locked Cr:LISAF using an A-FPSA. Optics Lett 1994, 19:2143-2145. High average output power (> 10mW) is obtained with an optimized pump optics design and the use of novel high brightness red pump diodes. This paper describes in full detail the design criteria.
31. Kopf D, Weingarten KJ, Brovelli LR, Kamp M, Keller U: Sub-50-fs diode-pumped mode-locked Cr:LiSAF with an A-FPSA. In Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO): Technical Digest Series 1995, vol 15, paper CWM2. Washington DC: Optical Society of America; 1995:252.
32. Kärtner FX, Brovelli LR, Kopf D, Kamp M, Calasso I, Keller U: Control of solid state laser dynamics by semiconductor devices. Opt Eng 1995, 34:2024-2036. Self Q-switching is a serious problem for solid state lasers with a long upper state lifetime (> 100 μs). Detailed criteria to prevent instabilities are given with respect to experimentally accessable laser parameters.
33. Braun B, Kärtner FX, Keller U, Meyn J-P, Huber G: Passively Q-switched 180 ps Nd:LSB microchip laser. Optics Lett 1996, 21:405-407. Using the A-FPSA we demonstrated passive Q-switching of a Nd:LSB microchip laser which resulted in production of the shortest pulses attainable with a passively Q-switched solid state laser as a result of the unique features of this approach.
34. Brovelli LR, Jung ID, Kopf D, Kamp M, Moser M, Kärtner FX, Keller U: Self-starting soliton modelocked Tisapphlre laser using a thin semiconductor saturable absorber. Electron Lett 1995, 31:287-289.
35. Jung ID, Brovelli LR, Kamp M, Keller U, Moser M: Scaling of the antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber design toward a thin saturable absorber. Optics Lett 1995, 20:1559-1561. The A-FPSA design depends strongly on the top reflector. The different regimes are discussed and demonstrated with a sub-50 fs Ti:sapphire laser.
36. Tsuda S, Knox WH, Souza EAD, Jan WY, Cunningham JE: Low-loss intracavity AlAs/AlGaAs saturable Bragg reflector for femtosecond mode locking In solid state lasers. Optics Lett 1995, 20:1406-1408.
37. Ramaswamy-Paye M, Fujimoto JG: Compact dispersion-compensating geometry for Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond lasers. Optics Lett 1994, 19:1756-1758. This paper describes some of the simplest femtosecond Ti:sapphire lasers using a prismatic output coupler for negative dispersion compensation.
38. Bouma BE, Fujimoto JG: Compact Kerr-lens-mode-locked resonators. Optics Lett 1996, 21:134-136. A complete overview of different compact laser cavity designs.
39. Kopf D, Spühler GJ, Weingarten KJ, Keller U: Mode-locked laser cavities with a single prism for dispersion compensation. Appl Opt 1996, 35:912-915.
40. Gires F, Tournois P: Interferometre utilisable pour la compression d'impulsions lumineuses modulees en frequence. C R Acad Sci Paris 1964, 258:6112-6115.
41. Kopf D, Zhang G, Fluck R, Moser M, Keller U: All-in-one novel dispersion-compensating saturable absorber mirror for compact femtosecond laser sources. Optics Lett 1996, 21:486-488. For the first time both a saturable absorber and negative dispersion are combined within one semiconductor mirror.
42. Haus HA, Fujimoto JG, Ippen EP: Structures for additive pulse modelocking. J Opt Soc Am B-Opt Physics 1991, 8:2068-2076.
43. Hofer M, Fermann ME, Haberl F, Ober MH, Schmidt AJ: Modelocking with cross-phase and self-phase modulation. Optics Lett 1991, 16:502-504.
44. Hofer M, Ober MH, Haberl F, Fermann ME: Characterization of ultrashort pulse formation in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1992, 28:720-728.
45. Tamura K, Doerr CR, Nelson LE, Haus HA, Ippen EP: Technique for obtaining high-energy ultrashort pulses from an additive-pulse mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:46-48.
46. Haus HA, Tamura K, Nelson LE, Ippen EP: Stretched-pulse additive pulse mode-locking in fiber ring lasers: theory and experiment IEEE J Quantum Electron 1995, 31:591-598. A novel approach for obtaining higher peak powers from mode-locked fibre lasers. The limiting effects of too much SPM are reduced by segments of large positive and large negative GVD in the fibre cavity.
47. Bosenberg WR, Eckardt RC (Eds): Special issue on: Cw mode-locked optical parametric oscillators. Appl Phys B 1995, 60:411-468.
48. Beigang R (Ed): Special issue on: Optical parametric devices. J Opt Soc Am B-Opt Physics 1995, 12:2084-2320.
49. Gale GM, Cavallari M, Driscoll TJ, Hache F: Sub-20 fs tunable pulses In the visible from an 82 MHz optical parametric oscillator. Optics Lett 1995, 20:1562-1564. Some of the best OPO results in terms of ultrashort pulse generation.
50. 3. Optics Lett 1995, 20:680-682.
51. Graesser C, Beigang R, Wallenstein R: Cw modelocked operation of a picosecond AgGaSe2 optical parametric oscillator. In Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), Baltimore, May 21-26 1995, paper CPD48. Washington DC: Optical Society of America; 1995.
52. 4 optical parametric oscillator. Optics Lett 1995, 20:2309-2311.
53. Petricevic V, Gayen SK, Alfano RR: Laser action in chromium-doped forsterite. Appl Phys Lett 1988, 52:1040-1042.
54. Carrig TJ, Pollock CR: Performance of a cw Forsterlte Laser with Krypton Ion, Ti:sapphire, and Nd:YAG Pump Lasers. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1993, 29:2835-2844.
55. Eilers H, Dennis WM, Yen WM, Kück S, Peterman K, Huber G, Jia W: Performance of a Cr:YAG Laser. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1993, 29:2508-2512.
56. Sennaroglu A, Pollock CR, Nathel H: Continuous-wave self-modelocked operation of a femtosecond Cr4+:YAG laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:390-392.
57. Conlon PJ, Tong YP, French PMW, Taylor JR, Shestakov AV: Passive modelocking and dispersion measurement of a sub-100 fs Cr4+:YAG laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:1468-1470.
58. 4+:YAG laser. Optics Lett 1994, 19:2003-2005.
59. Sennaroglu A, Pollock CR, Nathel H: Generation of tunable fs pulses in the 1.21-1.27 μm and 605-635 μm wavelength region by using a regeneratlvely initiated self-mode-locked Cr:forsterite laser. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1994, 30:1851-1861. An informative review article of femtosecond pulse generation using Cr:forsterite.
60. Payne SA, Chase LL, Smith LK, Kway WL, Newkirk H: Laser performance of LiSrAlF6:Cr3+. J Appl Phys 1989, 66:1051-1056.
61. Payne SA, Chase LL, Newkirk HW, Smith LK, Krupke WF: Cr:LiCAF: a promising new solid state laser material. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1988, 24:1988.
62. Wang HS, Wa PLK, Lefaucheur JL, Chai BHT, Miller A: Cw and self-mode-locking performance of a red pumped Cr:LiSCAF laser. Opt Commun 1994, 110:679-688.
63. Smith LK, Payne SA, Kway WL, Chase LL, Chai BHT: Investigation of the Laser Properties of Cr3+:LiSrGaF6. IEEE J Quantum Electron 1992, 28:2612-2618.
64. Dymott MJP, Ferguson Al: Self-mode-locked diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser producing 34-fs pulses at 42-mW average power. Optics Lett 1995, 19:1157-1159. Results of some of the shortest pulses with reasonable average output power obtained with a diode pumped Cr:LiSAF laser are presented.
65. Mellish R, Barry NP, Hyde SCW, Jones R, French PMW, Taylor JR, Poel CJVD, Valster A: Diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF all-solid state femtosecond oscillator and regenerative amplifier. Optics Lett 1995, 20:2312-2314. An all solid state approach to higher peak powers.
66. Kopf D, Aus der Au J, Keller U, Bona GL, Roentgen P: 400-mW continous-wave diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser based on a power-scalable concept Optics Lett 1995, 20:1782-1784. A novel "pump and cool" concept introduced in this paper allows us to use low brightness high power diode arrays and bars.
67. Kopf D, Keller U, Beach RJ, Emanuel MA, Skidmore JA: 1-W cw diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser. In Advanced Solid-State Lasers: Technical Digest Series 1996. Washington DC: Optical Society of America; 1996:166-168. For the first time more than 1 W of average output power is obtained from a diode pumped Cr:LiSAF laser. The method is based on the "pump and cool" concept in [66••]; however, in this case a higher power diode laser bar is used.