Dispersion-managed mode-locking dynamics in a Ti:sapphire laser

Abstract

We present what is to our knowledge the most complete one-dimensional numerical analysis of the evolution and the propagation dynamics of an ultrashort laser pulse in a Ti:sapphire laser oscillator. This study confirms the dispersion managed model of mode locking, and emphasizes the role of the Kerr nonlinearity in generating mode-locked spectra with a smooth and well-behaved spectral phase. A very good agreement with experimental measurements of pulse energy, spectrum, and temporal width of extracavity compressed pulses is found.