Compact harmonic cavity optical parametric oscillator for optical parametric amplifier seeding.

We present a broadly tunable highly efficient frequency conversion scheme, based on a low-threshold harmonic cavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) followed by an idler-seeded power amplifier. By choosing the cavity length of the OPO equal to the 10 harmonic of its 41 MHz Yb:KGW solid-state pump laser, a very compact optical setup is achieved. A singly-resonant cavity without output coupler results in a low oscillation threshold of only 28-100 mW in the entire signal tuning range of 1.

Alignment-free difference frequency light source tunable from 5 to 20 µm by mixing two independently tunable OPOs.

Tunable mid-infrared ultrashort lasers have become an essential tool in vibrational spectroscopy in recent years. They enabled and pushed a variety of spectroscopic applications due to their high brilliance, beam quality, low noise, and accessible wavelength range up to 20 µm. Many state-of-the-art devices apply difference frequency generation (DFG) to reach the mid-infrared spectral region.

Ultra-stable high average power femtosecond laser system tunable from 1.33 to 20 μm.

A highly stable 350 fs laser system with a gap-free tunability from 1.33 to 2.0 μm and 2.

Synchronization-free all-solid-state laser system for stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.

We introduce an extremely simple and highly stable system for stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. An 8-W, 450-fs Yb:KGW bulk oscillator with 41 MHz repetition rate pumps an optical parametric amplifier, which is seeded by a cw tunable external cavity diode laser. The output radiation is frequency doubled in a long PPLN crystal and generates 1.

Low drift cw-seeded high-repetition-rate optical parametric amplifier for fingerprint coherent Raman spectroscopy.

We introduce a broadly tunable robust source for fingerprint (170 - 1620 cm) Raman spectroscopy. A cw thulium-doped fiber laser seeds an optical parametric amplifier, which is pumped by a 7-W, 450-fs Yb:KGW bulk mode-locked oscillator with 41 MHz repetition rate. The output radiation is frequency doubled in a MgO:PPLN crystal and generates 0.

Multi-Watt femtosecond optical parametric master oscillator power amplifier at 43 MHz.

We present a high repetition rate mid-infrared optical parametric master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) scheme, which is tunable from 1370 to 4120nm. Up to 4.3W average output power are generated at 1370nm, corresponding to a photon conversion efficiency of 78%.

High-power mid-infrared high repetition-rate supercontinuum source based on a chalcogenide step-index fiber.

We demonstrate a tunable and robust femtosecond supercontinuum source with a maximum output power of 550 mW and a maximum spectral width of up to 2.0 μm, which can cover the mid-infrared region from 2.3 μm up to 4.

Compact, low-noise, all-solid-state laser system for stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.

We present a highly stable and compact laser source for stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. cw-seeding of an optical parametric amplifier pumped by a bulk femtosecond Yb-oscillator and self-phase modulation in a tapered fiber allow for broad tunability without any optical or electronic synchronization. The source features noise levels of the Stokes beam close to the shot-noise limit at MHz modulation frequencies.

Combining cw-seeding with highly nonlinear fibers in a broadly tunable femtosecond optical parametric amplifier at 42 MHz.

We report on a precisely tunable and highly stable femtosecond oscillator-pumped optical parametric amplifier at a 41.7 MHz repetition rate for spectroscopic applications. A novel concept based on cw-seeding of a first amplification stage with subsequent spectral broadening and shaping, followed by two further amplification stages, allows for precise sub-nanometer and gap-free tuning from 1.

Watt-level optical parametric amplifier at 42 MHz tunable from 1.35 to 4.5 μm coherently seeded with solitons.

We report on an optical parametric amplifier at high repetition rate of 41.7 MHz seeded by an optical soliton from a tapered fiber. Gap-free signal tuning from 1.

Broadly tunable femtosecond near- and mid-IR source by direct pumping of an OPA with a 41.7 MHz Yb:KGW oscillator.

We generate over half a watt of tunable near-IR (1380-1830 nm) and several hundred milliwatts in the mid-IR (2.4-4.2 µm) as well as milliwatt level mid-IR (4.

Milliwatt-level mid-infrared (10.5-16.5 μm) difference frequency generation with a femtosecond dual-signal-wavelength optical parametric oscillator.

We demonstrate the generation of mid-infrared radiation using a femtosecond dual-signal-wavelength optical parametric oscillator and difference frequency generation in an extracavity gallium selenide or silver gallium diselenide crystal. This system generates up to 4.3 mW of average mid-infrared power.

High-power widely tunable sub-20 fs Gaussian laser pulses for ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy.

We demonstrate the generation of widely tunable sub-20 fs Gaussian-shaped laser pulses using a grating-based 4-f pulse shaper and a liquid crystal spatial light modulator. Our pump source is an Yb:KGW solitary mode-locked oscillator at 44 MHz repetition rate which is coupled into a large mode area microstructured fiber to generate a broad spectrum from below 900 nm to above 1150 nm. These pulses are precompressed by a prism sequence and subsequently sent into the pulse shaper.

Compact laser source for high-power white-light and widely tunable sub 65 fs laser pulses.

We demonstrate an Yb:KGW femtosecond solitary mode-locked laser oscillator, which is used as a pump source for tapered fibers to generate white-light laser pulses with an average output power of up to 2.5 W and a spectral bandwidth of over 1000 nm. By spectrally filtering these pulses and subsequent compression of the filtered pulses with a prism sequence, we are able to generate ultrashort laser pulses with durations between 26 and 65 fs that are tunable from 600 to 1450 nm and with tens to several hundreds of milliwatts of average power.

Few-cycle OPCPA system at 143 kHz with more than 1 microJ of pulse energy.

We present an OPCPA system delivering 8.8 fs (3.3 optical cycles) pulses with 1.

Sub-10-fs pulses from a MHz-NOPA with pulse energies of 0.4 microJ.

We present a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) delivering sub-10-fs pulses with 420 nJ of pulse energy. The system is driven by microjoule pulses from an Yb:KYW oscillator with cavity-dumping and a subsequent single-stage rod-type fiber amplifier at 1-MHz repetition rate. The ultrabroadband seed is based on stable white-light generation from 420 fs long pulses in a YAG plate.

Double waveguide couplers produced by simultaneous femtosecond writing.

We report on a novel method to create waveguide coupler devices in fused silica by combining the technique of beam shaping with femtosecond laser writing. The method is based on a programmable phase modulator and a dynamic variation of the phase-pattern during the writing process. The major advantage is the possibility to create complex devices in a single sweep by simultaneously writing two or more waveguides with changing separation.

Theoretical and experimental limits of cavity-dumping in passively mode-locked thin-disk oscillators.

The dynamical properties of a mode-locked thin disk laser with cavity-dumping in the solitary regime are studied using numerical simulations along with experimental data. Limitations of this system as well as their origin are identified. The results of these investigations agree very well with recently published experimental results.

Passively mode-locked and cavity-dumped Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) oscillator with positive dispersion.

We demonstrate, what is to our knowledge the first passively mode-locked Ytterbium based solid state high energy laser oscillator operated in the positive dispersion regime. Compared to solitary mode-locking the pulse energy can be increased with even broader spectral bandwidth. With high speed cavity dumping the laser generates 2 muJ-pulses at a 1 MHz repetition rate.

Microjoule pulses from a passively mode-locked Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) thin-disk oscillator with cavity dumping.

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a passively mode-locked femtosecond thin-disk oscillator with cavity dumping. A beta-barium-borate-based pockels cell imposes cavity dumping at a repetition rate of 1 MHz. The laser generates pulse energies up to 3 microJ with a pulse duration of 680 fs in a diffraction-limited beam.

Near-infrared optical parametric amplifier at 1 MHz directly pumped by a femtosecond oscillator.

We demonstrate a high-average-power optical parametric amplifier directly pumped by a cavity-dumped Yb:KYW mode-locked laser oscillator at 1 MHz repetition rate. The two-stage system uses periodically poled lithium niobate crystals both for optical parametric generation and for power amplification. We obtain average powers as high as 190 mW with 220 fs average pulse widths and wavelength tunability in the 1.

Generation of few-cycle pulses directly from a MHz-NOPA.

We demonstrate the generation of 10-fs-pulses from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA). The NOPA is driven by microjoule pulses from a directly diode pumped Yb:KYW oscillator with cavity-dumping.

Megahertz optical parametric amplifier pumped by a femtosecond oscillator.

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, an optical parametric amplifier directly pumped by a femtosecond oscillator. Wavelength-tunable pulses in the ranges 0.65-0.

High-peak-power pulses from a cavity-dumped Yb:KY(WO4)2 oscillator.

We report generation of 1.35 microJ femtosecond laser pulses with a peak power of 3 MW at 1 MHz repetition rate from a diode-pumped Yb:KY(WO4)2 laser oscillator with cavity dumping. By extracavity compression with a large-mode-area fiber and a prism sequence, we generate ultrashort pulses with a duration of 21 fs and a peak power of 13 MW.