SESAM-modelocked Yb:CaF2 thin-disk-laser generating 285 fs pulses with 1.78 μJ of pulse energy. (5th April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dannecker, Benjamin; Ahmed, Marwan Abdou; Graf, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Laser physics letters. Volume 13:Number 5(2016:May)
• Publication Date: 2016-04-05
• Subjects: laser materials -- ultrafast processes -- optical pulse generation -- pulse compression -- modulation -- tuning -- mode locking; Lasers -- Periodicals; Physics -- Periodicals; 621.366
• DOI: 10.1088/1612-2011/13/5/055801
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1612-2011

Abstract

Abstract: We report on a SESAM-modelocked Yb:CaF2 thin-disk oscillator designed to generate more than 1 μ J of pulse energy at a moderate pulse repetition rate. The goal of our experiment was to explore the potential of Yb:CaF2 in a thin-disk laser (TDL) architecture for high power at pulse durations shorter than 300 fs as compared to other Yb-doped crystals exhibiting broad gain bandwidth. At a repetition rate of 10 MHz the laser produced an average output power of up to 17.8 W (1.78 μ J of pulse energy) with a beam quality factor M 2 below 1.2. The pulse duration was measured to be 285 fs, which results in a peak power of 5.5 MW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy and peak power demonstrated to date with sub-300 fs pulses generated by SESAM-modelocked oscillators, leading to the conclusion that Yb:CaF2 is a very promising crystal for TDL technology.