Self-optimizing femtosecond semiconductor laser

Abstract

A self-optimizing approach to intra-cavity spectral shaping of external cavity mode-locked semiconductor lasers using edge-emitting multi-section diodes is presented. An evolutionary algorithm generates spectrally resolved phase- and amplitude masks that lead to the utilization of a large part of the net gain spectrum for mode-locked operation. Using these masks as a spectral amplitude and phase filter, a bandwidth of the optical intensity spectrum of 3.7 THz is achieved and Fourier-limited pulses of 216 fs duration are generated after further external compression.

Femtosecond pulse generation beyond photon lifetime limit in gain-switched semiconductor lasers

“…Mode-locked semiconductor lasers in monolithic and externalcavity architectures have been developed since 1980s and demonstrated stable femtosecond pulse generation with high repetition rates corresponding to the cavity length. So far, various types of mode-locked semiconductor lasers have been studied, such as monolithic passive-colliding-pulse-mode-locked quantum-well lasers 1,2 , quantum-dots lasers [3][4][5][6][7] and externalcavity active-mode-locked buried-heterostructure lasers 8,9 . Recently, intra-cavity spectral shaping and dispersion control technologies enabled ultrashort pulses within a few hundred femtoseconds [10][11][12] .…”

Near Infrared Diode Laser THz Systems

“…Another field of research was the change of the wavelength region of the pumping lasers to 1550 nm (Sartorius et al, 2012;Fice et al, 2010;Ryu et al, 2012;Rymanov et al, 2013;Göbel et al, 2013;Hisatake et al, 2014) or 1 µm (Kitahara et al, 2013;Tanabe et al, 2009) and 1.3 µm (Moon et al, 2014). The development of new photomixers based on telecommunication diode mixers shifted the focus to diode laser systems in the telecommunication range which makes industry components as laser sources easily accessible.…”