Modeling of ultrashort pulse amplification with gain saturation.

A new method for the realistic modeling of ultrashort pulse amplification under conditions of strong gain saturation has been developed. Both the frequency dependence and the time dependence of the gain are properly taken into account. The method can, for example, be applied to chirped-pulse bulk and fiber amplifiers, but is not restricted to pulses with particular spectral or temporal properties.

Sub-100 attosecond timing jitter from low-noise passively mode-locked solid-state laser at telecom wavelength.

We report on the ultralow timing jitter of the 100 MHz pulse trains generated by two identical passively mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSLs) emitting at 1556 nm. Ultralow timing jitter of 83 as (integrated from 10 kHz to 50 MHz) for one laser has been measured with a balanced optical cross-correlator as timing discriminator. Extremely low intensity noise has been measured as well.

Timing jitter and phase noiseof mode-locked fiber lasers.

The noise properties of mode-locked fiber lasers differ in various respects from those of bulk lasers. The reasons for this are both quantitative and qualitative differences concerning the pulse formation. The underlying theoretical aspects are discussed in detail.

Quantum-limited noise performance of a femtosecond all-fiber ytterbium laser.

We report on quantum-limited noise performance of a mode-locked ytterbium all-fiber laser. The laser operates at a high normal net dispersion without dispersion compensation. We show that the naïve application of analytical models to such lasers leads to strongly underestimated timing jitter, whereas a numerical simulation is in reasonable agreement with measurements.

Amplification of photon echo signals by use of a fiber amplifier.

The efficiency of photon-echo processes typically lies in the 0.1-1% range. For many photon-echo-based applications suggested in optical storage and all-optical communication the photon-echo output pulses would need to be used as input data to a new photon-echo process.

Ring-doped cladding-pumped single-mode three-level fiber laser.

We propose and theoretically analyze three-level cladding-pumped fiber lasers in which the laser-active dopant is placed in a ring around a single-mode core. A ring-doped laser can work efficiently at wavelengths with strong small-signal absorption. This is otherwise difficult in a cladding-pumped fiber.

High-power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:YAG lasers.

We obtained 74-kW peak power and 3.5-W average output power in 1-ps pulses from a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser at 1030 nm that was passively mode locked with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. Another laser produced 57-kW peak power and as much as 8.

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10-W average power in a diffraction-limited beam.

We present a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10.7-W average output power in a diffraction-limited beam. Stable self-starting mode locking with a pulse duration of 16 ps and a pulse energy of 120 nJ is obtained with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror.

Passively Q-switched 0.1-mJ fiber laser system at 1.53 mum.

We demonstrate a passively Q-switched fiber laser system generating pulses with as much as 0.1 mJ of pulse energy at 1.53 mum and a >1-kHz repetition rate.

Diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser with 1.1-W average power.

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Yb:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we obtain pulses of 176-fs duration with an average power of 1.1 W and a peak power of 64 kW at a center wavelength of 1037 nm.

16.2-W average power from a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:YAG thin disk laser.

We demonstrate a power-scalable concept for high-power all-solid-state femtosecond lasers, based on passive mode locking of Yb:YAG thin disk lasers with semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors. We obtained 16.2 W of average output power in pulses with 730-fs duration, 0.

Widely tunable pulse durations from a passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:YAG laser.

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:YAG laser that generates solitonlike pulses with durations that are continuously tunable in a very wide range from 3.3 to 89 ps or from 0.83 to 1.

Femtosecond fiber-feedback optical parametric oscillator.

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first synchronously pumped high-gain optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with feedback through a single-mode fiber. This device generates 2.3-2.

Optical parametric oscillator with a 10-GHz repetition rate and 100-mW average output power in the spectral region near 1.5 mum.

We demonstrate a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator that emits picosecond pulses at an ~1.55-mum wavelength with a repetition rate as a high as 10 GHz and as much as 100 mW of average power. It is pumped with a diode-pumped passively mode-locked 10-GHz Nd:YVO(4) laser.

240-fs pulses with 22-W average power from a mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser.

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:KY(WO(4))(2) laser. The laser produces pulses of 240-fs duration with an average power of 22 W at a center wavelength of 1028 nm. At a pulse repetition rate of 25 MHz, the pulse energy is 0.

Practical low-noise stretched-pulse Yb(3+)-doped fiber laser.

We report on the development of what we consider to be a practical and highly stable stretched-pulse laser based on Yb(3+) -doped silica fiber. The Fabry-Perot cavity uses nonlinear polarization rotation as the mode-locking mechanism, and a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror to ensure robust self-starting and incorporates a diffraction grating pair to compensate for the normal dispersion of the fiber. Use of a single-mode grating-stabilized telecommunications-qualified pump laser diode ensures reliable, low-noise operation (~0.

Comment on "passively Q-switched fiber laser that uses saturable Raman gain".

Recently, an interesting pulsing behavior of a fiber laser with intracavity Raman conversion was reported [Y. Zhao and S. D.

Cooperative luminescence and absorption in Ytterbium-doped silica fiber and the fiber nonlinear transmission coefficient at lambda=980 nm with a regard to the Ytterbium ion-pairs' effect: Comment.

Recently, significant power losses in ytterbium-doped fibers have been interpreted as resulting from the formation of ytterbium ion pairs [A. V. Kir'yanov et al.

Beam quality deterioration of lasers caused by intracavity beam distortions.

It is well known that beam distortions in a laser cavity can deteriorate the laser's beam quality, but why and exactly how the impact of such distortions can strongly depend on details of the resonator setup has not been studied in detail. This article clarifies the issue with a simple resonant mode coupling model, explaining e.g.

Nearly quantum-noise-limited timing jitter from miniature Er:Yb:glass lasers.

We report on nearly quantum-limited timing-jitter performance of two passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass lasers with a repetition rate of 10 GHz. The relative timing jitter of both lasers was measured to be 190 fs (100 Hz-1.56 MHz) root mean square.

Femtosecond pulse generation with a diode-pumped Yb3+:YVO4 laser.

A diode-pumped Yb:YVO4 laser has been passively mode locked for the first time, to our knowledge. 120 fs pulses with an average output power of 300 mW and a peak power as high as 14.5 kW are obtained by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking.

Optical parametric oscillator with a pulse repetition rate of 39 GHz and 2.1-W signal average output power in the spectral region near 1.5 microm.

We present a singly resonant, synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator with a record-high repetition rate of 39 GHz. The transform-limited 2.2-ps pulses at 1570 nm have as much as 2.

2.1-W picosecond passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser.

We demonstrate an optically pumped passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser generating 4.7-ps pulses at 957 nm with as much as 2.1 W of average output power and a 4-GHz repetition rate.

Soliton mode-locked Er:Yb:glass laser.

We report on a simple diode-pumped passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass laser generating transform-limited 1536-nm solitons of 255-fs duration with a repetition rate of 50 MHz and average power of 58 mW. We also discuss timing jitter and the trade-off between short pulses and high output power in these lasers.

Passively mode-locked 914-nm Nd:YVO4 laser.

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser operating on the 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition at 914 nm. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we have obtained 3-ps pulses at a repetition rate of 233.8 MHz.