SC818: Laser Beam Quality
This course will address all aspects of laser beam quality. Topics to be covered are: a short introduction to Gaussian beams, definitions and importance of beam quality, measurement techniques, typical beam quality issues related to various kinds of lasers (primarily solid state lasers and semiconductor lasers), an overview on methods for optimizing the beam quality particularly of diode-pumped solid state lasers, and the working principles of common beam shapers and mode cleaners.
SC931: Applied Nonlinear Frequency Conversion
This course provides detailed knowledge on the operation and design of nonlinear frequency conversion devices. The emphasis is on frequency conversion in (2) nonlinear crystals, such as frequency doubling, sum and difference frequency generation and parametric oscillation. In addition, Raman amplifiers and lasers (including bulk and fiber-based devices) are treated, and briefly also Brillouin fiber lasers. The course gives an overview of nonlinear crystal materials and addresses the details of phase matching, showing how a certain phase-matching configuration may be chosen based on given device requirements. For various cases, it is shown how to estimate the achievable conversion efficiency. The conversion of short and ultrashort optical pulses is also discussed. Some case studies demonstrate the influence of various practical issues.
SC860: Resonator Design for Solid State Lasers
This course gives a comprehensive introduction into the design of resonators for solid state bulk lasers. After a short introduction to Gaussian beams, the essential properties of optical resonators and their modes (including fundamental and higher-order modes) are discussed, as well as influences such as thermal lensing, misalignment, and aberrations. Fundamental limitations and design optimization procedures are first explained in a general manner and then applied to concrete resonator types, including short linear cavities, unidirectional ring lasers, microchip lasers, Z-shaped resonators, large-mode high power laser resonators, and various issues in the context of Q-switched and mode-locked lasers.
SC1340: Designing Robust Pulsed Lasers
Although it is well known how pulsed lasers work in principle, many problems encountered in practice should be tackled based on a more advanced technical understanding. Too many lasers are still designed with an inefficient iterative trial & error approach, consuming too much development time while not realizing performance potentials. Also, they often result in non-ideal behavior such as critical alignment sensitivity or premature aging of components. Therefore, many engineers as well as scientists could profit from being shown in detail how to design lasers more efficiently.
<p> This course explains how to develop various kinds of pulsed lasers (with nanosecond, picosecond or femtosecond pulse duration), based on properly worked out designs. The course focuses on fundamental aspects of laser operation, rather than e.g. on details like laser housings. For Q-switched and mode-locked lasers as well as ultrafast fiber lasers, the operation principles are explained in detail, with a thorough discussion of various typical performance limitations. Design guidelines for reliably reaching best performance are given and discussed in various example cases.
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SC1180: Passive and Active Fiber Optics
This course gives a comprehensive introduction into fiber optics. It explains in detail many aspects of light propagation in optical fibers (including data signals and ultrashort pulses) and of coupling light into fibers. It also covers active devices like fiber amplifiers and lasers in the regimes of continuous-wave operation as well as nanosecond and ultrashort pulse operation. Many example cases are illustrated with numerical simulations which demonstrate various design aspects and limitations.
SC1181: Ultrafast Lasers and Amplifiers
This course gives detailed insight into the operation principles and essential limitations of lasers and amplifiers for ultrashort pulse generation. Mode-locked lasers of different kinds, including both bulk lasers and fiber lasers, and the different mode-locking mechanisms used in those are discussed in detail and often demonstrated with numerical simulations. Also, principles and limitations of pulse amplification in bulk and fiber devices are treated.
SC1207: High-Power Laser Technologies
This course starts with an overview on competing technologies for high-power solid-state laser sources, including bulk lasers, amplified and fiber-based sources. The primary topic is the analysis of performance potentials of different technologies in situations with different boundary conditions, such as continuous-wave operation with no restrictions or with high beam quality and/or a limited emission bandwidth, and the generation of intense laser pulses with nanosecond, picosecond or femtosecond durations. In this context, the concept of power scaling is given a meaningful basis, and scaling considerations are demonstrated in example cases.
