Direct diode pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast regenerative amplifier system

Abstract

Abstract:We report on a direct diode-pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast regenerative amplifier laser system producing multi-μJ energies with a repetition rate from 50 to 250 kHz. By combining cryogenic cooling of Ti:sapphire with high brightness fiber-coupled 450nm laser diodes, we for the first time demonstrate a power-scalable CW-pumped architecture that can be directly applied to demanding ultrafast applications such as coherent high-harmonic EUV generation without any complex post-amplification pulse compression. Initial results promise a new era for Ti:sapphire amplifiers not only for ultrafast laser applications, but also for tunable CW sources. We discuss the unique challenges to implementation, as well as the solutions to these challenges. S. Schilt, and T. Südmeyer, "Green-diode-pumped femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser with up to 450 mW average power," Opt.

Directly diode-pumped, Kerr-lens mode-locked, few-cycle Cr:ZnSe oscillator

“…Careful optimization of the cavity's dispersion should also lead to even shorter pulse durations [26]. Finally, the development of diode-pumped amplifier systems can potentially boost the pulse energy further while retaining the low-noise performance [55]. Directly diode-pumped femtosecond Cr 2+ -doped II-VI oscillators, which can serve as drivers for parametric down-conversion into the mid-IR region, thus represent a new class of cost-effective, low-noise,…”

Review of laser‐diode pumped Ti:sapphire laser

“…In 2017, KMLabs reported on a direct LD pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast regenerative amplifier laser system. 79 The regenerative amplifier was directly pumped by a 50 W fiber-coupled LD and achieved 3 W CW laser output power by removing the polarization components (polarizer, Pockels cell). In order to further test the 100 W pump (Figure 6(A)), they also built a double focus CW cavity, and then obtained a CW output power of 11 W corresponding to a slope efficiency of 26%.…”

“…Researchers are eager for the laser output power to be further scaled. In 2017, KMLabs reported on a direct LD pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast regenerative amplifier laser system 79 . The regenerative amplifier was directly pumped by a 50 W fiber‐coupled LD and achieved 3 W CW laser output power by removing the polarization components (polarizer, Pockels cell).…”

Alexandrite: an attractive thin-disk laser material alternative to Yb:YAG?

“…At this point, before moving on with other TD gain media, it is instructive to quickly check the possible performance improvement that could be achieved in TD Ti:Sapphire lasers by cooling it to cryogenic temperatures (100 K). At cryogenic temperatures, the small signal gain [105][106][107] as well as the thermal conductivity of the Ti:Sapphire gain medium improves [53,108], and as a result thermal distortions are minimized (Table 1). More importantly, the nonradiative transition rates are ignorable at cryogenic temperatures [14].…”