Generation of 35-fs pulses from a Kerr lens mode-locked Yb:Lu_2O_3 thin-disk laser

Abstract

Abstract:We investigate Kerr lens mode locking of Yb:Lu 2 O 3 thin-disk laser oscillators operating in the sub-100-fs regime. Pulses as short as 35 fs were generated at an average output power of 1.6 W. These are the shortest pulses directly emitted from a thin-disk laser oscillator. The optical spectrum of the 35-fs pulses is almost 3 times broader than the corresponding emission band of the gain crystal. At slightly longer pulse duration of 49 fs, we achieve an average power of 4.5 W. In addition, 10.7 W are obtained in 88-fs pulses, which is twice higher than the previous power record for ultrafast thin-disk lasers generating pulses shorter than 100 fs. Our results prove that Kerr lens mode-locked Yb:Lu 2 O 3 thin-disk lasers are a promising technology for further average power and pulse energy scaling of ultrafast high-power oscillators operating in the sub-100-fs regime. Pescher, W. Schweinberger, V. Pervak, E. Fill, O. Pronin, Z. Wei, F. Krausz, A. Apolonski, and J. Biegert, "High-power sub-two-cycle mid-infrared pulses at 100 MHz repetition rate," Nat. Photonics 9(11), 721-724 (2015). 8. F. Emaury, A. Diebold, C. J. Saraceno, and U. Keller, "Compact extreme ultraviolet source at megahertz pulse repetition rate with a low-noise ultrafast thin-disk laser oscillator," Optica 2(11), 980-984 (2015). 9. C. J. Saraceno, O. H. Heckl, C. R. E. Baer, C. Schriber, M. Golling, K. Beil, C. Kränkel, T. Südmeyer, G. Huber, and U. Keller, "Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser," Appl. Phys. B 106(3), 559-562 (2012 Matuschek, and J. Aus der Au, "Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAM's) for femtosecond to nanosecond pulse generation in solid-state lasers," IEEE

Parametric Amplification of Phase‐Locked Few‐Cycle Pulses and Ultraviolet Harmonics Generation in Solids at High Repetition Rate

“…Furthermore, owing to the higher density and heavier ions in the lattice of the dielectric materials compact high‐brightness sources are conceivable . As a direct consequence of these attributes, HHG in dielectrics is the ideal source for UV radiation at high repetition rates where suitable driving lasers are becoming available …”

Kerr lens mode-locked Yb:CALGO thin-disk laser

“…Yb:LuO features a 30% broader gain bandwidth ( Fig. 2), which enabled the recent demonstration 35-fs pulses at 1.6 W from a KLM TDL [12]. Combining broadband Yb-based gain materials with the Kerr lens mode-locking scheme is therefore a promising approach towards TDLs generating even shorter pulse durations.…”

“…1. Evolution of the shortest pulse duration generated by ultrafast Yb-doped bulk and thin-disk laser oscillators [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The presented result is highlighted with a green star symbol.…”

“…Improved dispersion management should result in transform-limited pulses as demonstrated in a SESAM mode-locked Yb:CALGO TDL [9]. The peaks around 950 nm and 1150 nm are associated with dispersive waves as already observed in various oscillators, e.g., [5,6,12]. While the disk coating supports the entire laser optical spectrum, the transmission of the output coupler increases from 0.3% at the central wavelength to ∼2% at the wings.…”

“…Our work confirms the benefits of the thin-disk pumping scheme for the generation of ultrashort pulses. KLM TDLs already produced pulses with an optical spectrum three times larger than the gain bandwidth [11,12]. The presented 30-fs laser does not fully exploit the ultra-broad bandwidth of Yb:CALGO.…”