Pulses having durations as short as 60 fsec have been directly generated by a self-mode-locked, dispersion-compensated Ti:sapphire laser. By using an extracavity fiber-prism pulse compressor, pulse durations as short as 45 fsec have been obtained.
It is demonstrated that the incorporation of an acousto-optic modulator within the cavity of a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser can lead to self-starting and stable generation of pulses that have durations of 60 fs when the acousto-optic device is driven regeneratively from the laser output. Data are also presented that show that the application of cavity-frequency locking techniques dramatically improves the phase noise characteristics of the mode-locked laser.
The experimentally measured timing jitter of a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser is compared with the theoretically predicted quantum limit. Timing jitter figures of 150 fs (100-500 Hz) and 80 fs (500-5000 Hz), which approach the quantum limit, have been achieved by use of an improved cavity phase-locking technique.
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