Femtosecond pulse generation with a diode-pumped Yb^3+:YVO_4 laser

Kisel, V. É.; Troshin, A. E.; Shcherbitsky, V. G.; Кулешов, Н. В.; Matrosov, V. N.; Matrosova, T. A.; Kupchenko, M. I.; Brunner, F.; Paschotta, Rüdiger; Morier‐Genoud, F.; Keller, U.

doi:10.1364/ol.30.001150

Cited by 68 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…However, the emission bandwidth of Yb:YAG limits the pulse duration to only 700-800 fs in a thin-disk laser, or to 340 fs in a bulk laser [2]. Much shorter pulse durations were reported for a number of crystals with broader emission bands, such as Yb-doped YVO 4 [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], as well as phosphate and silicate glasses [13]. However, these materials have low thermal conductivity of approximately 2 -5 W / ͑mK͒, which limits their potential for high-power operation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spectroscopy and femtosecond laser performance of Yb^3+:YAlO_3 crystal

et al. 2008

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We report what we believe to be the first demonstration of cw and passively mode-locked Yb 3+ : YAlO 3 (Yb:YAP) laser operation under diode pumping. Spectroscopic properties of a 0.6 at.% Yb 3+ -doped YAP single crystal were investigated. Output power up to 1.2 W with slope efficiency of 64.5% in the cw regime and 225 fs pulse duration with average power of 0.8 W from a mode-locked Yb:YAP laser were demonstrated. OCIS codes: 140.3380, 140.3480, 140.3615, 140.4050, 140.5680. Present widespread use of efficient InGaAs laser diodes and favorable electronic structure of ytterbium ions stimulate interest in Yb 3+ -doped solid-state materials for diode-pumped high-power lasers emitting in the spectral range near 1 m. Broad gain bandwidth of these media has stimulated their applications for generation of ultrashort pulses in modelocked regime. © 2008 Optical Society of AmericaSo far, the highest average output power of 60 W with ultrashort pulses has been obtained with a thindisk Yb:YAG laser, passively mode-locked with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror (SESAM) [1]. The thermal conductivity of YAG is about 13 W / ͑mK͒. However, the emission bandwidth of Yb:YAG limits the pulse duration to only 700-800 fs in a thin-disk laser, or to 340 fs in a bulk laser [2]. Much shorter pulse durations were reported for a number of crystals with broader emission bands, such as Yb-doped YVO 4 [19,20]. It was shown that Yb 3+ ͑15 at.% ͒ : YAP crystal is a potential candidate for compact, efficient thin-chip lasers; in addition, its broad emission band allows the generation of ultrashort pulses. The latest description and analysis of Yb:YAP crystal growth, structural characterization, and spectroscopic properties were published in [21]. In this study, Boulon et al. reported experimental decay-time dependence on Yb 3+ -dopant concentrations, and room-temperature absorption and emission cross section spectra along the a axis were given. Radiative lifetime of an upper-laser level was estimated there to be 0.6 ms, which has a large discrepancy with the decay time published in [19].In our study polarized absorption spectra of Yb 3+ ͑0.6 at.% ͒ : YAP at room temperature were measured by a Varian CARY-5000 spectrophotometer. The content of ytterbium ions in crystal was measured by means of a Tescan VEGA II LMU scanning electron microscope with Oxford INCA Energy 350 energy dispersive x-ray analyzer and was estimated to be 1.17ϫ 10 20 cm −3 . The cross-section spectra for three polarizations are shown in Fig. 1. Strong absorption is found for E ʈ c light polarization. A peak absorption cross-section at 978.2 nm is about 6.6 ϫ 10 −20 cm 2 , however, with comparatively narrow bandwidth of about 4 nm. For a and b polarizations maximal absorption cross sections near 978.5 nm are 0.97ϫ 10 −20 cm 2 and 1.38ϫ 10 −20 cm 2 , respectively. The stimulated emission cross sections are also given in Fig. 1. They were calculated by use of a modified

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Spectroscopy and femtosecond laser performance of Yb^3+:YAlO_3 crystal

et al. 2008

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“…Indeed, 120-fs pulses with an average power of 300 mW were generated from a diode-pumped Yb: YVO 4 laser that was passively mode locked by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). 9 In fact, most of the work in the field of ultrashort Yb lasers has concentrated on the employment of SESAMs 10 for passive mode locking. Kerr-lens mode locking 11 (KLM) is another well-developed technique for the generation of ultrashort pulses from lasers that are efficient, compact, and have reduced cavity component counts.…”

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Yb^3+-doped YVO_4 crystal for efficient Kerr-lens mode locking in solid-state lasers

et al. 2005

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We report the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of soft-aperture Kerr-lens mode locking in a diodepumped femtosecond Yb 3+ : YVO 4 laser. Near-transform-limited pulses as short as 61 fs are generated around a center wavelength of 1050 nm with an output power of 54 mW and a pulse repetition frequency of 104.5 MHz. This is, to our knowledge, the shortest pulse generated directly from an Yb laser having a crystalline host material. The femtosecond operation has a mode-locking threshold at an absorbed pump power of 190 mW. 3 From the point of view of the development of new Yb-doped crystals for reliable and efficient femtosecond lasers, materials are preferred that possess high cross sections (in particular, the emission cross section) 4 together with broad gain spectra 5-7 and good physical and mechanical properties. 8 In this context, given the strong and broad absorption peak (FWHM of ϳ8 nm) at around 985 nm, which is compatible with optical pumping by well-developed InGaAs laser diodes, the extremely low quantum defect ͑ϳ3.5% ͒, and a relatively broad and smooth 5 (glasslike) emission spectrum, the Yb: YVO 4 crystal is a good candidate gain medium for incorporation into diode-pumped femtosecond lasers for the 1-m spectral region. Indeed, 120-fs pulses with an average power of 300 mW were generated from a diode-pumped Yb: YVO 4 laser that was passively mode locked by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). 9In fact, most of the work in the field of ultrashort Yb lasers has concentrated on the employment of SESAMs 10 for passive mode locking. Kerr-lens mode locking 11 (KLM) is another well-developed technique for the generation of ultrashort pulses from lasers that are efficient, compact, and have reduced cavity component counts. 12 Reducing the intracavity losses by excluding a SESAM (nonsaturable losses) can lead to a substantial enhancement in the optical efficiency of such a femtosecond laser. In addition, the shortest pulse generated directly from a laser was produced using the KLM technique. 13 One of the critical parameters for reliable Kerr-lens mode locking is a high value of the nonlinear refractive index n 2 of a laser medium. Although, Major et al. have shown that a number of Yb-doped crystals are characterized by relatively high n 2 and are promising for KLM operation, 14,15 only the Yb:KYW laser has been mode locked successfully by using the optical Kerr effect under the conditions of direct diode pumping. 16,17 In this Letter we describe the parameters of a new Yb-doped YVO 4 crystal, which was selected for possible exploitation in KLM solid-state lasers. Impressively, our KLM Yb: YVO 4 laser produced pulses as short as 61 fs at a center wavelength of 1050 nm with an average output power of 54 mW for an absorbed pump power of just 400 mW. The nonlinear refractive indices were measured for the Yb: YVO 4 crystal by using the z-scan technique and were found to be 19 ϫ 10 −16 cm 2 / W and 15ϫ 10 −16 cm 2 / W for and polarizations, respectively, at 1080 nm.A schematic of the laser c...

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“…The broad emission spectra of Yb-doped vanadates are attractive not only for tunable laser operation in the 1 µm spectral range but also for reliable and efficient diode-pumped femtosecond lasers. Both mode-locking with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and Kerr-lens mode-locking have been demonstrated for Yb:YVO 4 [6,7]. The pulses obtained were as short as 120 fs and 61 fs for SESAM and Kerr-lens mode-locked operation, respectively.…”

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confidence: 99%