High energy, monolithic fiber femtosecond lasers

The paper presents monolithic fiber-optic CPA systems - where the mode-locked oscillator, pulse stretcher, pulse shaper, pulse picker, and all amplifier stages are comprised of fusion spliced fiber devices - emitting up to 300 μJ compressed pulse output with duration <;500 fs (FWHM). This is a 6 times higher pulse energy than previously reported for monolithic fiber femtosecond lasers. Higher femtosecond pulse energy enables cutting and drilling through thicker materials, at faster rates, without imposing a heat affected zone (HAZ). Generating this femtosecond beam with a monolithic fiber-optic system provides the most compact and stable form factor, suitable for industrial work cell integration and global factory deployment.