Diode-pumped high-power gigahertz Kerr-lens mode-locked solid-state oscillator enabled by a dual-confocal ring cavity

Femtosecond oscillators with gigahertz (GHz) repetition rate are appealing sources for spectroscopic applications benefiting from the individually accessible and high-power comb line. The mode mismatch between the potent pump laser diode (LD) and the incredibly small laser cavity, however, limits th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li Zheng, Wenlong Tian, Hanchen Xue, Yuehang Chen, Geyang Wang, Chuan Bai, Yang Yu, Zhiyi Wei, Jiangfeng Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-01-01
Series:High Power Laser Science and Engineering
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2095471924000422/type/journal_article
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Summary:Femtosecond oscillators with gigahertz (GHz) repetition rate are appealing sources for spectroscopic applications benefiting from the individually accessible and high-power comb line. The mode mismatch between the potent pump laser diode (LD) and the incredibly small laser cavity, however, limits the average output power of existing GHz Kerr-lens mode-locked (KLM) oscillators to tens of milliwatts. Here, we present a novel method that solves the difficulty and permits high average power LD-pumped KLM oscillators at GHz repetition rate. We propose a numerical simulation method to guide the realization of Kerr-lens mode-locking and comprehend the dynamics of the Kerr-lens mode-locking process. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, an LD-pumped Yb:KGW oscillator with up to 6.17-W average power and 184-fs pulse duration at 1.6-GHz repetition rate is conducted. The simulation had a good agreement with the experimental results. The cost-effective, compact and powerful laser source opens up new possibilities for research and industrial applications.
ISSN:2095-4719
2052-3289