Open AccessFiber Laser Replacement for Short Pulse Ti:Sapphire Oscillators -- Scalable Mode Locking to Record Pulse Energies
Author(s) -
Jay W. Dawson,
Michael J. Messerly,
Jungkwuen An
Publication year - 2006
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/889996
Subject(s) - pulse (music) , materials science , laser , fiber laser , lock (firearm) , nonlinear system , optics , ultrashort pulse , quantum tunnelling , ti:sapphire laser , fiber , sapphire , optoelectronics , physics , engineering , detector , composite material , mechanical engineering , quantum mechanics
We have investigated fiber-based lasers that mode-lock via three nonlinear mechanisms: pulse evolution, bend loss, and tunneling. Experiments with nonlinear pulse evolution proved especially promising; we report here a fiber laser that produces 25 nJ, sub-200 fs pulses, an energy that is 60% higher than previous reports. Experiments with nonlinear bend loss were inconclusive; though bend-loss data show that the effect exits, we were not able to use the phenomenon to lock a laser. New models suggest that nonlinear tunneling could provide an alternate path