Title :
Compact Nd:YVO4 lasers with pulse repetition rates up to 160 GHz
Author :
Krainer, Lukas ; Paschotta, Rüdiger ; Lecomte, Steve ; Moser, Michael ; Weingarten, Kurt J. ; Keller, Ursula
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Quantum Electron., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Zurich, Switzerland
fDate :
10/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We present a comprehensive study on multigigahertz repetition rate Nd:YVO4 lasers, passively mode-locked with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors. A brief review of Q-switching instabilities with special emphasis on high repetition rate is given. We then present basic design guidelines, and experimentally show that one can push the pulse repetition rate of a Nd: YVO4 laser up to 157 GHz, reaching the fundamental limit to the repetition rate which is given by the pulse duration and thus by the amplification bandwidth. We also demonstrate an air-cooled diode-pumped 10-GHz Nd: YVO4 laser with 2.1-W average output power and 13% electrical-to-optical efficiency, showing the potential of solid-state lasers generating multiwatt, multigigahertz pulse trains with high efficiency.
Keywords :
Q-switching; laser cavity resonators; laser mirrors; laser mode locking; neodymium; optical pulse generation; optical pumping; optical saturable absorption; solid lasers; 2.1 W; Q-switching instabilities; YVO4:Nd; air-cooled diode-pumped laser; cavity design; compact Nd:YVO4 lasers; continuum generation; design guidelines; multigigahertz pulse trains; multigigahertz repetition rate; passively mode-locked lasers; pump mode size; semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors; solid-state lasers; soliton mode-locked operation; stable self-starting operation; Laser mode locking; Mirrors; Neodymium; Optical design; Optical pulse generation; Optical pulses; Power generation; Pulse amplifiers; Semiconductor lasers; Solid lasers;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2002.802967
