Open AccessAttosecond timing jitter pulse trains from semiconductor saturable absorber mode-locked Cr:LiSAF lasers
Author(s) -
Duo Li,
Umıt Demırbas,
Andrew Benedick,
Alphan Sennaroğlu,
James G. Fujimoto,
Franz X. Kärtner
Publication year - 2012
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.20.023422
Subject(s) - jitter , optics , phase noise , materials science , ultrashort pulse , attosecond , laser , femtosecond , semiconductor laser theory , optoelectronics , mode locking , saturable absorption , semiconductor , physics , fiber laser , electronic engineering , engineering
The timing jitter of optical pulse trains from diode-pumped, semiconductor saturable absorber mode-locked femtosecond Cr:LiSAF lasers is characterized by a single-crystal balanced optical cross-correlator with an equivalent sensitivity in phase noise of -235 dBc/Hz. The RMS timing jitter is 30 attoseconds integrated from 10 kHz to 50 MHz, the Nyquist frequency of the 100 MHz repetition rate oscillator. The AM-to-PM conversion induced excess phase noise is calculated and compared with experiment. The self-steepening effect is proven to be the dominant AM-to-PM coupling mechanism, whereas the semiconductor saturable absorber operation does not adversely affect timing jitter. The results show that ultrafast Cr:LiSAF lasers are promising compact and efficient ultralow-jitter sources.