Title :
Novel semiconductor materials and saturable absorber mirrors for sub-10-fs pulse generation
Author :
Schon, S. ; Haiml, M. ; Gallmann, L. ; Achermann, M. ; Keller, U.
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Quantum Electron., Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technol., Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract :
We report on the fabrication of novel ultrabroadband AlGaAs/CaF2 semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) for sub-10-fs pulse generation. AlGaAs/CaF2 Bragg mirrors provide high reflection bandwidths covering the whole gain spectrum of Ti:sapphire lasers. GaAs layers epitaxially grown on CaF2 win be shown to be an excellent choice for the operation as saturable absorber with high modulation depth and fast recovery times. A monolithical SESAM device consisting of AlGaAs/CaF2 Bragg mirror and GaAs saturable absorber started and supported successfully mode-locking in a Ti:sapphire laser. Sub-10-fs pulses have been generated. A broad pulse spectrum with a transform limit of 5.9 fs shows the potential of AlGaAs/CaF2 for sub-6-fs pulse generation.
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; calcium compounds; gallium arsenide; laser mirrors; laser mode locking; optical pulse generation; optical saturable absorption; semiconductor epitaxial layers; 10 fs; Al2O3:Ti; AlGaAs-CaF2; AlGaAs/CaF2 Bragg mirror; GaAs; GaAs epitaxial layer; Ti:sapphire laser; gain spectrum; mode locking; modulation depth; monolithic device; recovery time; reflection bandwidth; semiconductor saturable absorber mirror; ultrashort pulse generation; Bandwidth; Gallium arsenide; Laser mode locking; Mirrors; Optical device fabrication; Optical pulse generation; Optical reflection; Pulse generation; Semiconductor lasers; Semiconductor materials;
Conference_Titel :
Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices, 2000. COMMAD 2000. Proceedings Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6698-0
DOI :
10.1109/COMMAD.2000.1022998
