Optical Engineering · 1995 · 207 citations · 18 references
EngineeringMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceOptoelectronicsPhotonicsSemiconductor DevicesLaser OpticsLaser PhysicsOptical Properties Of SemiconductorsSemiconductor LasersSemiconductor PhysicsUltrafast OpticsFemtosecond Laser PulsesFemtosecond Laser SourcesLaser StabilityLasersMode LockingMode-locked LasersSolid-state LasersUltrafast Laser Dynamics
Previous attempts to achieve self‑starting passive mode locking in solid‑state lasers with long upper‑state lifetimes were always accompanied by self‑Q‑switching. The study derives criteria to characterize the dynamic behavior of solid‑state lasers across Q‑switching, mode‑locked Q‑switching, and continuous‑wave mode locking regimes for picosecond and femtosecond pulse widths. The authors show that semiconductor absorbers can be engineered to predetermine a laser’s dynamic behavior for a given solid‑state material, and they experimentally verify this design. The anti‑resonant Fabry‑Perot semiconductor saturable absorber reliably initiates and sustains stable mode locking in various solid‑state lasers, enabling the creation of robust, compact pico‑ and femtosecond laser sources for scientific and industrial use.
We have successfully demonstrated that an appropriately designed semiconductor saturable absorber device, the antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber, can reliably start and sustain stable mode locking of solid state lasers such as Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF, Nd:Glass, Cr:LiSAF, and Ti:sapphire lasers. Especially for solid state lasers with long upper-state lifetimes, previous attempts to produce self-starting passive mode locking with saturable absorbers was always accompanied by self-<i>Q</i>-switching. We derive criteria that characterize the dynamic behavior of solid state lasers in the important regimes of <i>Q</i>-switching, mode-locked <i>Q</i>-switching, and continuous-wave mode locking in the picosecond and femtosecond range for the pulsewidth. We demonstrate that semiconductor absorbers can be designed to predetermine the dynamic behavior of a laser for a given solid state laser material and present an experimental verification. This allows for the development and design of robust, compact pico- and femtosecond solid state laser sources for scientific and industrial applications.
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Scalable concept for diode-pumped high-power solid-state lasers
Adolf Giesen, H. Hügel, K. Wittig et al. · Applied Physics B · 1994 · 1K citations
Natural Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science +14