Open AccessBroad emission band of Yb^3+ in the nonlinear Nb:RbTiOPO_4 crystal: origin and applications
Author(s) -
Joan J. Carvajal,
G. Ciatto,
Xavier Mateos,
Andreas Schmidt,
Uwe Griebner,
Valentín Petrov,
G. Boulon,
A. Brenier,
Alexandra Peña,
María Cinta Pujol,
Magdalena Aguiló,
Francesc Dı́az
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.007228
Subject(s) - ytterbium , materials science , laser , optics , femtosecond , sapphire , optoelectronics , crystal (programming language) , semiconductor , ion , saturable absorption , fiber laser , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
By means of micro-structural and optical characterization of the Yb:Nb:RbTiOPO(4) crystal, we demonstrated that the broad emission band of Yb(3+) in these crystals is due to the large splitting of the ytterbium ground state only, and not to a complex multisite occupation by the ytterbium ions in the crystals. We used this broad emission band to demonstrate wide laser tuning range and generation of femtosecond laser pulses. Passive mode-locked laser operation has been realized by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, generating ultra short laser pulses of 155 fs, which were very stable in time, under Ti:sapphire laser pumping at 1053 nm.