Generation of high-power femtosecond pulses near 1.5 μm using a color-center laser system

Author

Sucha, Gregg ; Bolton, Sarah R. ; Chemla, Daniel S.

Author_Institution

Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA, USA

Volume

28

Issue

10

fYear

1992

fDate

10/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2163

Lastpage

2175

Abstract

The authors have developed a high-power F-center laser system capable of generating femtosecond pulses with energies exceeding 50 pJ at wavelengths near 1.5 μm. Short pulses (140 fs) from an additive-pulse mode-locked NaCl laser are amplified in a multipass NaCl amplifier at kilohertz repetition rates. The system can generate peak powers approaching 500 MW, with wavelengths tunable from 1.52 to 1.64 μm. The amplified pulses are used to generate a continuum in various solid media without optical damage. The continuum generated in BaF₂ is extremely broad, extending from below 400 nm to 3.5 μm. Construction and operating details are discussed as well as the system´s utility for femtosecond measurements in the infrared and high-power experiments

Keywords

F-centres; colour centre lasers; high-speed optical techniques; laser transitions; sodium compounds; 1.5 micron; 1.52 to 1.64 micron; 140 fs; 50 pJ; 500 MW; BaF₂; additive-pulse mode-locked NaCl laser; amplified pulses; color-center laser system; construction; continuum; energies; high-power F-center laser system; high-power experiments; high-power femtosecond pulses; infrared; kilohertz repetition rates; multipass NaCl amplifier; operating details; optical damage; peak powers; solid media; wavelengths; Laser mode locking; Optical amplifiers; Optical pulse generation; Optical pulses; Power generation; Pulse amplifiers; Pulse generation; Solids; Tunable circuits and devices; Ultrafast optics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.159525

Filename

159525