Open Access435 kW peak power femtosecond pulse mode-locked VECSEL for supercontinuum generation
Author(s) -
Keith G. Wilcox,
A.C. Tropper,
Harvey E. Beere,
D. A. Ritchie,
Bernardette Kunert,
Bernd Heinen,
W. Stolz
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.21.001599
Subject(s) - supercontinuum , optics , materials science , femtosecond , laser , optoelectronics , fiber laser , photonic crystal fiber , wavelength , physics
We report a passively mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) producing 400 fs pulses with 4.35 kW peak power. The average output power was 3.3 W and the VECSEL had a repetition rate of 1.67 GHz at a center wavelength of 1013 nm. A near-antiresonant, substrate-removed, 10 quantum well (QW) gain structure designed to enable femtosecond pulse operation is used. A SESAM which uses fast carrier recombination at the semiconductor surface and the optical Stark effect enables passive mode-locking. When 1 W of the VECSEL output is launched into a 2 m long photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a 2.2 µm core, a supercontinuum spanning 175 nm, with average power 0.5 W is produced.