Title :
Passive mode-locking of a Ho:YSAG laser with PbS-quantum dot-doped glass
Author :
Denisov, Igor A. ; Gaponenko, M.S. ; Malyarevich, Alexander M. ; Yumashev, Konstantin V. ; Lipovskii, A.A.
Author_Institution :
Inst. for Opt. Mater. & Technol., Belarussian Nat. Tech. Univ., Minsk, Belarus
Abstract :
Solid-state laser sources emitting ultrashort pulses in the spectral range near 2 ¿m are potentially attractive for rangefinders, LIDAR and medical applications. This paper presents passive mode-locking of a 2-¿m Cr:Tm:Ho:YSAG laser using PbS-quantum dot-doped phosphate glass as a saturable absorber. The absorption saturation intensity for PbS-quantum dot-doped glass under influence of 40-ns laser pulses at the wavelength of 2.1 ¿m is measured to be ~3.5 MW/cm2. When intracavity focusing parameter in the saturable absorber being 1.1÷1.3 mode-locking operation is observed.observed. The laser operated in the TEM00 mode and a train of ultrashort pulses separated by 7.2 ns cavity roundtrip with maximum single pulse energy of 0.5 mJ is obtained.
Keywords :
IV-VI semiconductors; aluminium compounds; chromium; gallium compounds; holmium; laser mode locking; lead compounds; optical glass; optical pulse generation; optical saturable absorption; phosphate glasses; scandium; semiconductor quantum dots; sodium compounds; solid lasers; thulium; yttrium compounds; zinc compounds; P2O5-Na2O-ZnO-AlF3-Ga2O3; TEM00 mode; Y3Sc2Al3O12:Cr,Tm,Ho; absorption saturation intensity; passive mode-locking; phosphate glass; quantum dot; saturable absorber; ultrashort pulses; wavelength 2.1 mum; Absorption; Biomedical equipment; Glass; Laser mode locking; Laser radar; Medical services; Optical pulses; Pulse measurements; Solid lasers; Wavelength measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics 2009 and the European Quantum Electronics Conference. CLEO Europe - EQEC 2009. European Conference on
Conference_Location :
Munich
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4079-5
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4080-1
DOI :
10.1109/CLEOE-EQEC.2009.5194726
