Silicate bonding of sapphire to SESAMs: adjustable thermal lensing for high-power lasers

Lang, Lukas; Saltarelli, Francesco; Lacaille, G.; Rowan, S.; Hough, J.; Graumann, I. J.; Phillips, Christopher; Keller, U.

doi:10.1364/oe.427192

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Square samples are diced from the wafer and silicate bonded to a 1-mm-thick wedged sapphire window [45]. We observe that this results in an improved cold curvature of the SESAM, while simultaneously giving a more desirable thermal lensing behavior.…”

Section: Sample Growth and Bondingmentioning

confidence: 94%

Ultrafast 550-W average-power thin-disk laser oscillator

Seidel,

Lang,

Phillips

et al. 2024

Preprint

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We present a SESAM modelocked ultrafast thin-disk laser oscillator providing 550 W of average output power with 852 fs pulses at 5.5 MHz repetition rate. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the highest average output power ever achieved from a modelocked oscillator. To reach this significant power scaling, a new replicating cavity design for modelocked oscillators is utilized. The oscillator delivers 103 MW of peak power with a pulse energy of 100 µJ at a beam quality of M²< 1.2, with a high optical-to-optical efficiency of 35%. As well as providing record average output power, this oscillator thus also provides, to the best of our knowledge, the highest pulse energy from any modelocked oscillator and the highest peak power from any SESAM modelocked oscillator. Advances in SESAM design and manufacturing that enabled this result are discussed, as well as practical challenges when scaling oscillators to the kW-class.

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Section: Sample Growth and Bondingmentioning

confidence: 94%

Ultrafast 550-W average-power thin-disk laser oscillator

Seidel,

Lang,

Phillips

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Another concept proposed for controlling the thermal lens of SESAMs is based on bonding a sapphire substrate to the top of the SESAM. [ 88 ] This allows for engineering of the thermal lens both in amplitude and sign through the thickness of the bonded sapphire substrate.…”

Section: Mode‐locking Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Decade of Sub‐100‐fs Thin‐Disk Laser Oscillators

Drs

Fischer

Modsching

et al. 2023

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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Thin‐disk lasers (TDLs) are best known for their high‐power continuous‐wave industrial applications. Nonetheless, the thin‐disk geometry is also highly attractive for ultrafast laser oscillators. The short propagation distance and large beam diameter inside the gain crystal allows for very low induced nonlinearity, low dispersion, and extreme peak powers inside the laser cavity. The path toward TDL oscillators directly delivering high average power at ultrafast pulse duration required for many scientific applications has, however, been tangled and is still ongoing. A decade ago, the first sub‐100‐fs laser oscillator is demonstrated, initiating the pursuit of even shorter pulses. Since then, many gain materials have been investigated in the thin‐disk geometry as well as various mode‐locking mechanisms for their suitability for efficient short‐pulse operation. In this review, the fast‐evolving development trends of TDL oscillators, as well as their scientific applications and prospects will be discussed.

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“…Typically, the mirror is a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), and there is one or more quantum well (QW)-based saturable absorber layers. Dielectric top coatings can be used to increase the saturation fluence and damage threshold [ 41 ], and substrate transfer and other techniques can be used for very high average power operation [ 42 , 43 ]. For the SESAMs studied here, the DBR is based on an AlAs/GaAs layer stack, while the QWs are InGaAs layers embedded between non-absorbing AlAs layers.…”

Section: Sesam Parameters and Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute SESAM characterization via polarization-resolved non-collinear equivalent time sampling

et al. 2022

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Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) have enabled a wide variety of modelocked laser systems, which makes measuring their nonlinear properties an important step in laser design. Here, we demonstrate complete characterization of SESAMs using an equivalent time sampling apparatus. The light source is a free-running dual-comb laser, which produces a pair of sub-150-fs modelocked laser outputs at 1051 nm from a single cavity. The average pulse repetition rate is 80.1 MHz, and the full time window is scanned at 240 Hz. Cross-correlation between the beams is used to calibrate the time axis of the measurements, and we use a non-collinear pump-probe geometry on the sample. The measurements enable fast and robust determination of all the nonlinear reflectivity and recovery time parameters of the devices from a single setup, and show good agreement with conventional nonlinear reflectivity measurements. We compare measurements to a rate equation model, showing good agreement up to high pulse fluence values and revealing that the samples tested exhibit a slightly slower recovery at higher fluence values. Lastly, we examine the polarization dependence of the reflectivity, revealing a reduced rollover if cross-polarized beams are used or if the sample is oriented optimally around the beam axis.

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Silicate bonding of sapphire to SESAMs: adjustable thermal lensing for high-power lasers

Cited by 12 publications

References 29 publications

Ultrafast 550-W average-power thin-disk laser oscillator

Ultrafast 550-W average-power thin-disk laser oscillator

A Decade of Sub‐100‐fs Thin‐Disk Laser Oscillators

Absolute SESAM characterization via polarization-resolved non-collinear equivalent time sampling

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