Optical nonlinearity in low-temperature-grown GaAs: Microscopic limitations and optimization strategies

Haiml, M.; Siegner, U.; Morier‐Genoud, F.; Keller, U.; Luysberg, M.; Lutz, R. C.; Specht, P.; Weber, E. R.

doi:10.1063/1.124086

Cited by 61 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In Figure 12b, we plot the characteristic decay time to 1/e (τ 1/e ) as a function of QW growth temperature. The observed behavior confirms previous studies carried out with LT-grown GaAs [52]. Although the parameter τ 1/e is not sufficient to fully characterize the dynamics of the absorber, it is an appropriate simplified parameter to compare the recovery of the absorber in a passively modelocked solid-state laser.…”

Section:  Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…In Figure 12a, pump-probe measurements of these samples are shown, confirming as expected that samples grown at lower temperatures have faster recovery times [52]. In Figure 12b, we plot the characteristic decay time to 1/e (τ 1/e ) as a function of QW growth temperature.…”

Section:  Resultssupporting

confidence: 79%

“…For example, in the case of TDLs where short pulses are targeted and a large fraction of the bandwidth needs to be exploited, a somewhat higher modulation depth and faster recovery time are beneficial [20,28,29]. Achieving shorter recovery times is straightforward with low-temperature (LT) growth [52]. The results presented in the previous paragraph indicate that growing the QWs at lower temperature should only have a small influence on the damage threshold of the samples, since the damage threshold is nearly independent of the absorber section.…”

Section: Influence Of Growth Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section:  Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section:  Resultssupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Influence Of Growth Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

et al. 2013

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“…Their fabrication involves molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) 6 . To reduce the relaxation time to sub-picosecond levels, either postgrowth ion-implantation or low-temperature growth is normally required 6,17 . Furthermore, SESAMs are based on a resonant nonlinearity, which tends to limit wavelength tuneability 18,19 for the shortest pulse lasers 20 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser

et al. 2008

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Ultrashort-pulse lasers with spectral tuning capability have widespread applications in fields such as spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications [1][2][3] . Mode-locked fibre lasers are convenient and powerful sources of ultrashort pulses 4 , and the inclusion of a broadband saturable absorber as a passive optical switch inside the laser cavity may offer tuneability over a range of wavelengths 5 . Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are widely used in fibre lasers [4][5][6] , but their operating range is typically limited to a few tens of nanometres 7,8 , and their fabrication can be challenging in the 1.3 -1.5 mm wavelength region used for optical communications 9,10 . Single-walled carbon nanotubes are excellent saturable absorbers because of their subpicosecond recovery time, low saturation intensity, polarization insensitivity, and mechanical and environmental robustness [11][12][13][14][15][16] . Here, we engineer a nanotube -polycarbonate film with a wide bandwidth (>300 nm) around 1.55 mm, and then use it to demonstrate a 2.4 ps Er 31 -doped fibre laser that is tuneable from 1,518 to 1,558 nm. In principle, different diameters and chiralities of nanotubes could be combined to enable compact, mode-locked fibre lasers that are tuneable over a much broader range of wavelengths than other systems.The development of compact, diode-pumped, ultrafast fibre lasers as alternatives for bulk solid-state lasers is fast progressing. To date, short pulse generation has been particularly effective using passive mode-locking techniques 4 . At present, the dominant technology in passively mode-locked fibre lasers is based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) 6 . Conventional SESAMs use III -V semiconductor multiple quantum wells grown on distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) 3 . Their fabrication involves molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) 6 . To reduce the relaxation time to sub-picosecond levels, either postgrowth ion-implantation or low-temperature growth is normally required 6,17 . Furthermore, SESAMs are based on a resonant nonlinearity, which tends to limit wavelength tuneability 18,19 for the shortest pulse lasers 20 . Their operating bandwidth is further limited by the bottom DBR section, which has a finite bandwidth for high reflectivity 19 . For example, the bandwidth of conventional Al x Ga 12x As/AlAs SESAMs is limited to about 60 nm by the bottom Bragg mirrors 21 . Wider bandwidth, &200 nm, was achieved using novel material pairs with larger refractive index difference (for example, AlGaAs/CaF 2 ) 21 , or by replacing the DBRs with metallic mirrors 22 . However, so far, no widely tuneable mode-locked laser has been reported using these novel structures. Trade-offs between design parameters have to be made in order to obtain targeted device characteristics 10 . A tuning range over 100 nm was achieved by SESAMs in solidstate and fibre lasers 18,23 . The widest was 125 nm, for a Yb-doped fibre laser operating at 1 mm. However, two SESAMs with complementary spectral properties had to b...

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“…Therefore, defects have to be introduced to the material to provide additional defect states for faster carrier trapping. Methods to obtain fast saturable absorber materials are lowtemperature (LT) growth by molecular beam epitaxy and ion implantation [10]. However, GaAs epitaxially grown on CaF 2 already provides high defect concentration at typical growth temperatures due to lattice-mismatched growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel AlGaAs/CaF₂ SESAM Device for Ultrashort Pulse Generation

et al. 2001

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A novel ultrabroadband AlGaAs/CaF 2 semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) covering nearly the entire Ti:sapphire gain spectrum is demonstrated. This device supports sub-10-fs pulse operation of a laser. In contrast to previous SESAMs of comparable bandwidth, our device can be monolithically grown by molecular beam epitaxy and requires no post-growth processing. GaAs is used as semiconductor saturable absorber material. The high defect concentration of the material is due to the lattice-mismatched growth on a fluoride surface with (11) orientation. With a time response of 1.2 ps for carrier trapping, a saturation fluence of 36 p•/cm 2 and a modulation depth of up to 2.2% , the GaAs saturable absorber is well-suited for alloptical switching in SESAM devices used for ultrashort pulse generation.

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Optical nonlinearity in low-temperature-grown GaAs: Microscopic limitations and optimization strategies

Cited by 61 publications

References 22 publications

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser

Novel AlGaAs/CaF₂ SESAM Device for Ultrashort Pulse Generation

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Optical nonlinearity in low-temperature-grown GaAs: Microscopic limitations and optimization strategies

Cited by 61 publications

References 22 publications

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

Cutting-Edge High-Power Ultrafast Thin Disk Oscillators

Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser

Novel AlGaAs/CaF2 SESAM Device for Ultrashort Pulse Generation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Novel AlGaAs/CaF₂ SESAM Device for Ultrashort Pulse Generation