Mode-locking with ultra-low intra-cavity pulse intensity using enhanced Kerr nonlinearity (Conference Presentation)

Mallachi-Elia Meller; Avi Pe'er

doi:10.1117/12.2250805

21 April 2017 Mode-locking with ultra-low intra-cavity pulse intensity using enhanced Kerr nonlinearity (Conference Presentation)

Mallachi-Elia Meller, Avi Pe'er

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10082, Solid State Lasers XXVI: Technology and Devices; 100821G (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2250805
Event: SPIE LASE, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

High repetition rate mode-locked lasers (in the GHz range), are desired for frequency comb spectroscopy. A major obstacle that currently impedes high repetition mode-locking is the inevitable subsequent reduction of the single pulse energy, which reduces the efficiency of the nonlinear Kerr effect in the cavity, eventually precluding mode-locking. The standard methods to overcome this restriction is to try to maintain the intra-cavity peak intensity in spite of the reduction of the single pulse energy, by tightening the focus of the intra-cavity beam on the crystal, or by enhancing the output coupler reflectivity and increasing the pump power. This standard approach is however limited since these actions also provide better conditions for CW operation, which reduces the ML robustness, and eventually spurs the laser to operate in CW. We demonstrate a fresh attack on this problem: instead of aiming to preserve the peak intensity by tightening the focus and lowering the OC loss, we enhance the nonlinearity inside the cavity to compensate for the reduction in intra-cavity peak intensity. We harness the enhanced nonlinearity to specifically target the intra-cavity peak intensity and explore its limits and effects. With an additional nonlinear window in the cavity we enhanced the Kerr nonlinearity by an order on magnitude compared to the standard Ti:S, allowing to maintain mode-locking with an output coupler reflectivity as low as R=55% and record-low intra-cavity peak intensity (10GW/cm², 50 times less than without enhanced non-linearity). Our results provide an important new knob for high-repetition rate mode-locking.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Mallachi-Elia Meller and Avi Pe'er "Mode-locking with ultra-low intra-cavity pulse intensity using enhanced Kerr nonlinearity (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10082, Solid State Lasers XXVI: Technology and Devices, 100821G (21 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2250805

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTATION

WATCH
PRESENTATION SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Mode locking

Continuous wave operation

Output couplers

Reflectivity

Crystals

Energy efficiency

Frequency combs

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years