High power UV q-switched and mode-locked laser comparisons for industrial processing applications

Gallium Nitride-based Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

“…Short wavelength optical pulses can also be beneficial with regard to precise processing since the spot size of the focused beam is proportional to NA/λ, where NA is the numerical aperture of the lens and λ is the wavelength of the laser. Kauf et al published a systematic study of microprocessing using mode-locked picosecond and q-switched nanosecond UV lasers having the same average and peak power values, although with differing pulse energies [40]. These trials demonstrated that picosecond UV pulses offer an advantage compared to nanosecond pulses since they allow higher cutting speeds when working with dielectric materials such as polyimides.…”

Inversion behavior in core- and cladding-pumped Yb-doped fiber photodarkening measurements

“…The interest in silica based glass fibers doped with Yb arises from the low quantum defect that enables high efficiency, and a wide body of literature exists on the use of Yb fibers in amplifiers and lasers. The high optical efficiency in conjunction with double cladding (DC) fiber structure to convert large quantities of pump radiation to high brightness signal have pushed Yb-doped sources from research demonstrations to commercially available laser devices [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. On the other hand, higher concentrations or pump intensities have in some cases been known to induce deleterious effects, such as photodarkening (PD), that manifests as a broad spectral attenuation in the Yb-doped core of the fiber [8].…”

300 W Peak Power Picosecond Optical Pulse Generation by Blue-Violet GaInN Mode-Locked Laser Diode and Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

“…High-peak-power picosecond optical pulses with high pulse repetition emitting near the UV range also benefit small-feature microfabrication with greatly reduced thermal damage compared with longer wavelength nanosecond pulses. 4) We have thus improved the performance of both MLLD and SOA. The newly developed MLLD incorporated a flared waveguide structure to increase the active region volume to obtain higher average optical power and peak power.…”

“…4) Significant increases in storage capacity can be expected in 3D optical storage systems. In fact, one terabyte data recording in a single 3D optical disk has already been demonstrated using a high-peak-power solid-state laser.…”

“…ompact pulse sources capable of generating highpeak-power, ultrashort optical pulses are important for applications utilizing nonlinear multiphoton processes such as three-dimensional (3D) optical data storage systems [1][2][3] and micromachining of polymer materials. 4) Significant increases in storage capacity can be expected in 3D optical storage systems. In fact, one terabyte data recording in a single 3D optical disk has already been demonstrated using a high-peak-power solid-state laser.…”