Open AccessRadiation hard mode-locked laser suitable as a spaceborne frequency comb
Author(s) -
Gilles Buchs,
Stefan Kundermann,
Erwin Portuondo-Campa,
Steve Lecomte
Publication year - 2015
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.23.009890
Subject(s) - laser , optics , fluence , materials science , femtosecond , radiation , regenerative amplification , proton , diode , irradiation , optoelectronics , physics , optical amplifier , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics
We report ground-level gamma and proton radiation tests of a passively mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) with Yb:KYW gain medium. A total gamma dose of 170 krad(H(2)O) applied in 5 days generates minor changes in performances while maintaining solitonic regime. Pre-irradiation specifications are fully recovered over a day to a few weeks timescale. A proton fluence of 9.76·10(10) cm(-2) applied in few minutes shows no alteration of the laser performances. Furthermore, complete stabilization of the laser shows excellent noise properties. From our results, we claim that the investigated femtosecond DPSSL technology can be considered rad-hard and would be suitable for generating frequency combs compatible with long duration space missions.