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

Nagl, Nathalie; Gröbmeyer, Sebastian; Pervak, Vladimir; Krausz, Ferenc; Pronin, Oleg; Mak, Ka Fai

doi:10.1364/oe.27.024445

Cited by 47 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Among them, Cr 2+ :ZnS/ZnSe lasers are especially promising for generating few-cycle mid-IR pulses because of the outstanding spectroscopic properties of the gain materials [14]. Recent advances represented by few-cycle (15 fs) pulse generation with mega-watt peak power [15], laser diode pumping [16], and frequency comb operation [17,18] are making Cr:ZnS/ZnSe lasers the workhorse in ultrafast optical science.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrafast saturable absorption of large-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes for passive mode locking in the mid-infrared

Okazaki¹,

Morichika²,

Arai³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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We study the saturable absorption properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with a large diameter of 2.2 nm and the corresponding exciton resonance at a wavelength of 2.4 µm. At resonant excitation, a large modulation depth of approximately 30 % and a small saturation fluence of a few tens of µJ/cm 2 are evaluated. The temporal response is characterized by an instantaneous rise and a subpicosecond recovery. We also utilize the SWCNTs to realize sub-50 fs, self-start mode locking in a Cr:ZnS laser, revealing that the film thickness is an important parameter that affects the possible pulse energy and duration. The results prove that semiconductor SWCNTs with tailored diameters exceeding 2 nm are useful for passive mode locking in the mid-infrared range.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrafast saturable absorption of large-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes for passive mode locking in the mid-infrared

Okazaki¹,

Morichika²,

Arai³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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“…Consequently, it can be exploited to realize dual‐comb laser sources operating in the mid‐IR spectral band, a region containing the majority of characteristic ro‐vibrational molecular transitions. This can be achieved by developing high‐power, femtosecond 2 µm lasers based on Tm 3+ ‐, [ 45 ] Ho 3+ ‐, [ 46 ] or Cr 2+ ‐doped [ 47,48 ] crystals and its subsequent nonlinear conversion to the longer wavelength range [ 49 ] or by direct dual‐comb generation from Fe 2+ lasers up to 6 µm. [ 47,50 ] Consequently, the reported technique paves the way for a new class of single‐cavity dual‐comb lasers, which, due to their low‐noise free‐running operation, will enable spectroscopic measurements without any active stabilization in the near future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual‐Comb Femtosecond Solid‐State Laser with Inherent Polarization‐Multiplexing

Kowalczyk

Sterczewski

Zhang

et al. 2021

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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Dual‐comb spectroscopy is a rapidly developing technique enabling ultraprecise broadband optical diagnostics of atoms and molecules. This powerful tool typically requires two phase‐locked femtosecond lasers, yet it has been shown that it can be realized without any stabilization if the combs are generated from a single laser cavity. Still, unavoidable intrinsic relative phase fluctuations always set a limit on the precision of any spectroscopic measurements, hitherto limiting the applicability of bulk dual‐comb lasers for mode‐resolved studies. Here, a versatile concept for low‐noise dual‐comb generation from a single‐cavity femtosecond solid‐state laser based on intrinsic polarization‐multiplexing inside an optically anisotropic gain crystal is demonstrated. Due to intracavity spatial separation of the orthogonally polarized beams, two sub‐100 fs pulse trains are simultaneously generated from a 1.05 µm Yb:CNGS (calcium niobium gallium silicate) oscillator with a repetition rate difference of 4.7 kHz. The laser exhibits the lowest relative noise ever demonstrated for a bulk dual‐comb source, supporting free‐running mode‐resolved spectroscopic measurements over a second. Moreover, the developed dual‐comb generation technique can be applied to any solid‐state laser exploiting a birefringent active crystal, paving the way toward a new class of highly coherent, single‐cavity, dual‐comb laser sources operating in various spectral regions.

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“…In the following, the results of the first directly diode-pumped KLM Cr 2+ -doped II-VI laser are presented along with a focus on the intra-cavity dispersion management, the success of the soft-aperture Kerr-lens mode-locking technique, and the measured amplitude noise performance. Even though this first demonstration has already been published in reference [209], the following subsections serve to provide a deeper insight into the experimental observations and the results achieved.…”

Section: Few-cycle Pulse Generation Via Kerr-lens Mode-lockingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Generation of Ultrafast Oscillators for Mid-Infrared Applications

Nagl¹

2021

Springer Theses

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The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range with wavelengths between 2 µm and 20 µm holds tremendous potential for the study of complex biological systems, given the abundance of intense and unique molecular absorption lines that can be detected. Consequently, spectroscopic applications of mid-infrared radiation have garnered enormous attention in recent years. A particularly striking example is the combination of multi-MHz-repetition-rate, few-cycle MIR light sources with electric-field-resolved techniques, enabling the recording of amplitude-and phase-resolved molecular signals with unparalleled specificity and shot noise limited sensitivity. Despite the ever-growing research demand, their widespread use is severely hampered by the lack of low-noise, compact, and ultrafast laser systems.In this dissertation, a new generation of table-top mid-infrared laser sources is presented, bringing cutting-edge laser diode technology and few-cycle Cr 2+ :ZnS/ZnSe solid-state oscillators together for the first time. Not only have these laser systems proven to reliably provide coherent radiation in the 2 µm to 3 µm region, the simultaneous reduction in size and complexity, accompanied by an improved overall efficiency and -most importantly -noise performance, renders this approach as pioneering for future MIR applications.In total, three laser systems are developed, each of them pushing the frontiers of directly diode-pumped laser technology. The first one is driven by a single-emitter indium phosphide laser diode and delivers more than 500 mW of output power combined with pulse durations as short as 45 fs. With this first ever directly diodepumped Kerr-lens mode-locked (KLM) Cr 2+ :ZnS/ZnSe oscillator, experimental results confirm a highly stable operation. In addition, amplitude noise measurements reveal an excellent low-noise performance of the mode-locked laser output.Driven by the desire to match and exceed the performance of more mature fiber-laser-pumped counterparts and also to boost the efficiency of the envisaged downstream applications, the output of two single-emitter pump laser diodes is carefully combined and implemented into a second-generation design. The achieved peak powers are almost three-times higher compared to before, while the low-noise performance of the KLM output is maintained.xii Typically, the design architecture of laser systems used for generating mid-infrared radiation up to several tens of microns includes a sophisticated chain of amplification, pulse compression and parametric conversion stages. Using a powerful few-cycle mid-infrared oscillator as driving laser source instead not only significantly improves the effectiveness of these nonlinear schemes, but could even supersede the need for initial amplification. The presented third-generation system brings the directly diode-pumped Cr 2+ :ZnS/ZnSe solid-state laser technology to a new level; with output peak powers reaching 1 MW and pulse durations as short as 28 fs, direct generation of CEP-stable mid-infrared pulses in a nonlinear optical cryst...

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

Cited by 47 publications

References 59 publications

Ultrafast saturable absorption of large-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes for passive mode locking in the mid-infrared

Ultrafast saturable absorption of large-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes for passive mode locking in the mid-infrared

Dual‐Comb Femtosecond Solid‐State Laser with Inherent Polarization‐Multiplexing

A New Generation of Ultrafast Oscillators for Mid-Infrared Applications

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