High-power 200 fs Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator

Pronin, Oleg; Brons, Jonathan; Grasse, Christian; Pervak, V.; Boehm, Gerhard; Amann, M.-C.; Калашников, В. Л.; Apolonski, Alexander; Krausz, Ferenc

doi:10.1364/ol.36.004746

Cited by 145 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, further power scaling was hindered by the anisotropic thermal properties of this material. Very recently, the first Kerr lens modelocked (KLM) [19] TDL was demonstrated using Yb:YAG generating 17 W average power with pulse duration of 200 fs [20]. Recent progress in the growth of high quality sesquioxide materials has attracted great attention [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

et al. 2012

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We present the first passively modelocked thin disk laser (TDL) with sub-100-fs pulse duration using the broadband sesquioxide gain material Yb:LuScO 3 and an optimized SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM). In this proof-of-principle experiment, we obtained 5.1 W of average power at a repetition rate of 77.5 MHz and a pulse duration of 96 fs. We carefully explored and optimized the different parameters on the soliton pulse formation process for the generation of short pulses. In particular, SESAMs combining fast recovery time, high modulation depth and low nonsaturable losses proved crucial to achieve this result even though they are expected to only play a minor role in soliton modelocking. To our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever obtained with a modelocked TDL, reaching for the first time the sub-100-fs milestone. This result opens the door to sub-100-fs oscillators with substantially higher power levels in the near future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

et al. 2012

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“…1(c)]. State of the art mode-locked TDLs are typically based on the well-established gain material Yb:YAG, which has only reached the 200-fs-regime so far with a Kerr lens mode-locked TDL setup [ 11].Therefore, there is a strong research effort in extending the record performance of mode-locked TDLs to the sub-100-fs regime [ Fig. 1(a)], and overcoming the tradeoff between pulse duration and average output power [ Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

SESAM mode-locked Yb:CaGdAlO_4 thin disk laser with 62 fs pulse generation

et al. 2013

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We present a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) mode-locked thin disk laser (TDL) based on Yb:CaGdAlO 4 (Yb:CALGO) generating 62 fs pulses, which is the shortest pulse duration achieved from mode-locked TDLs to date. The oscillator operates at a repetition rate of 65 MHz and delivers 5.1 W of average output power. The short pulse duration of our TDL in combination with the high intracavity peak power of 44 MW makes this oscillator attractive for intracavity table-top extreme nonlinear optics applications such as high harmonic generation and vacuum ultraviolet frequency comb generation. The current average power was limited by the quality of the Yb:CALGO disk. However, power scaling of Yb:CALGO TDLs to the multi-10-W range with short pulse durations (<100 fs) appears feasible in the near future by using thinner disks of better quality and further optimized SESAMs.OCIS One interesting aspect of TDLs is the high intracavity peak power which can be realized because the output coupler typically has values in the order of 10%. This intracavity peak power should allow for extreme nonlinear frequency conversion such as high harmonic generation (HHG). Realizing those experiments at a high repetition rate in the MHz regime, typically obtained with ultrafast TDLs, is highly desirable for an improved signal-to-noise ratio and to reduce acquisition times in high field laser physics. However, for efficient operation, HHG typically requires peak intensities of >10 13 W∕cm 2 (i.e., peak powers of >30 MW for a spot diameter of 25 μm) in combination with short pulse durations <100 fs [8][9][10] [ Fig. 1(c)]. State of the art mode-locked TDLs are typically based on the well-established gain material Yb:YAG, which has only reached the 200-fs-regime so far with a Kerr lens mode-locked TDL setup [ 11].Therefore, there is a strong research effort in extending the record performance of mode-locked TDLs to the sub-100-fs regime [ Fig. 1(a)], and overcoming the tradeoff between pulse duration and average output power [ Fig. 1(b)] with novel broadband thin disk gain materials that meet the spectroscopic and thermomechanical requirements [12 , 13]. In the past years, many Yb-doped gain materials have been investigated toward this goal. In particular, cubic sesquioxides have demonstrated their

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“…To date, the pulse duration of high-power SESAM modelocked Yb:YAG TDLs is limited to pulses longer than 500 fs, although much shorter pulses were demonstrated in low-power bulk oscillators [77][78][79][80]. Recently, the first Kerr-lens modelocked (KLM) Yb:YAG TDL was demonstrated with an average power of 17 W and a pulse duration of 200 fs [61], and similar performance was obtained by operating the KLM modelocked oscillator in the positive dispersion regime [62].…”

Section: State-of-the Art and Recent Experimental Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

et al. 2013

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A growing number of applications in science and industry are currently pushing the development of ultrafast laser technologies that enable high average powers. SESAM modelocked thin disk lasers (TDLs) currently achieve higher pulse energies and average powers than any other ultrafast oscillator technology, making them excellent candidates in this goal. Recently, 275 W of average power with a pulse duration of 583 fs were demonstrated, which represents the highest average power so far demonstrated from an ultrafast oscillator. In terms of pulse energy, TDLs reach more than 40 μJ pulses directly from the oscillator. In addition, another major milestone was recently achieved, with the demonstration of a TDL with nearly bandwidth-limited 96-fs long pulses. The progress achieved in terms of pulse duration of such sources enabled the first measurement of the carrier-envelope offset frequency of a modelocked TDL, which is the first key step towards full stabilization of such a source. We will present the key elements that enabled these latest results, as well as an outlook towards the next scaling steps in average power, pulse OPEN ACCESSAppl. Sci. 2013, 3 356 energy and pulse duration of such sources. These cutting-edge sources will enable exciting new applications, and open the door to further extending the current performance milestones.

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High-power 200 fs Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator

Cited by 145 publications

References 15 publications

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

SESAM mode-locked Yb:CaGdAlO_4 thin disk laser with 62 fs pulse generation

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

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