中国物理B ›› 2011, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (9): 94204-094204.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/20/9/094204

• CLASSICAL AREAS OF PHENOMENOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Periodic adjustment of the position of a laser beam spot on a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror in a passively mode-locked solid-state laser

夏帕克提, 闫平, 巩马理   

  1. Center for Photonics and Electronics, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • 收稿日期:2010-11-17 修回日期:2010-12-13 出版日期:2011-09-15 发布日期:2011-09-15

Periodic adjustment of the position of a laser beam spot on a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror in a passively mode-locked solid-state laser

Xia Pa-Keti(夏帕克提)†, Yan Ping(闫平), and Gong Ma-Li(巩马理)   

  1. Center for Photonics and Electronics, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Received:2010-11-17 Revised:2010-12-13 Online:2011-09-15 Published:2011-09-15

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摘要： A laser diode end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), in which the intracavity laser beam spot on the SESAM can be adjusted periodically, is investigated. Inserting a rectangular prism (RP) into the laser cavity is a promising approach towards the goal of periodically moving the position of the focus spot of the intracavity pulse on the SESAM surface to avoid the long-time irradiation of the laser beam on the same position, thereby solving a series of problems caused by damage to the SESAM and greatly prolonging its usage life. The adjustment of the rectangular prism in the laser cavity does not break the stable continuous wave (CW) mode-locked condition. The laser generates a stable picosecond pulse sequence at 1064 nm with an output power of 3.6 W and a pulse width of 14 ps. The instabilities of the output power and the pulse width are 1.77% and 4.5%, respectively.

Abstract: A laser diode end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), in which the intracavity laser beam spot on the SESAM can be adjusted periodically, is investigated. Inserting a rectangular prism (RP) into the laser cavity is a promising approach towards the goal of periodically moving the position of the focus spot of the intracavity pulse on the SESAM surface to avoid the long-time irradiation of the laser beam on the same position, thereby solving a series of problems caused by damage to the SESAM and greatly prolonging its usage life. The adjustment of the rectangular prism in the laser cavity does not break the stable continuous wave (CW) mode-locked condition. The laser generates a stable picosecond pulse sequence at 1064 nm with an output power of 3.6 W and a pulse width of 14 ps. The instabilities of the output power and the pulse width are 1.77% and 4.5%, respectively.

Key words: mode-locked laser, rectangular prism, Nd:YVO4, semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

中图分类号:  (Lasers)

  • 42.55.-f
42.55.Xi (Diode-pumped lasers) 42.60.Fc (Modulation, tuning, and mode locking)