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Cascaded mode-locking of a spectrally controlled Yb:KYW laser

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Abstract

Self-starting and stable mode-locking of an Yb:KYW laser in the picoseconds pulse regime has been achieved by exploiting a positive cascaded Kerr lens in periodically poled KTP. The use of a volume Bragg grating (VBG), for locking the output spectrum of the laser, was essential to achieve a stable mode-locked operation in this wide gain bandwidth laser material. The laser emitted stable, nearly transform-limited pulses with a duration of 16 ps, at a repetition rate of 210 MHz, and with an energy of 3.2 nJ. The mode-locked spectrum was centred at 1,029.1 nm and featured a FWHM bandwidth of 85 pm, which was effectively determined by the VBG. Combination of a large cascaded Kerr nonlinearity with spectral limiting by a VBG represents so far the best opportunity for stable mode-locking of a broadband laser to produce near-transform-limited picosecond pulses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR) through its Linnæus Center of Excellence ADOPT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laser Physics, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    Niels Meiser, Kai Seger, Valdas Pasiskevicius, Andrius Zukauskas, Carlota Canalias & Fredrik Laurell

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  1. Niels Meiser
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  2. Kai Seger
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  3. Valdas Pasiskevicius
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  4. Andrius Zukauskas
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  5. Carlota Canalias
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  6. Fredrik Laurell
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Correspondence to Niels Meiser.

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Meiser, N., Seger, K., Pasiskevicius, V. et al. Cascaded mode-locking of a spectrally controlled Yb:KYW laser. Appl. Phys. B 116, 493–499 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5725-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5725-6

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