We report on a diode-pumped Yb:KGW (ytterbium-doped potassium gadolinium tungstate) laser with a repetition rate of 4.8 GHz and a pulse duration of 396 fs. Stable fundamental modelocking is achieved with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The average output power of this compact diode-pumped solid state laser is 1.9 W which corresponds to a peak power of 0.9 kW and the optical-to-optical efficiency is 36%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the femtosecond DPSSL with the highest repetition rate ever reported so far.

© 2012 OSA

1. H. R. Telle, G. Steinmeyer, A. E. Dunlop, J. Stenger, D. H. Sutter, and U. Keller, “Carrier-envelope offset phase control: A novel concept for absolute optical frequency measurement and ultrashort pulse generation,” Appl. Phys. B69(4), 327–332 (1999). [CrossRef]
2. D. J. Jones, S. A. Diddams, J. K. Ranka, A. Stentz, R. S. Windeler, J. L. Hall, and S. T. Cundiff, “Carrier-envelope phase control of femtosecond mode-locked lasers and direct optical frequency synthesis,” Science288(5466), 635–639 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. S. A. Diddams, D. J. Jones, J. Ye, S. T. Cundiff, J. L. Hall, J. K. Ranka, R. S. Windeler, R. Holzwarth, T. Udem, and T. W. Hänsch, “Direct link between microwave and optical frequencies with a 300 THz femtosecond laser comb,” Phys. Rev. Lett.84(22), 5102–5105 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. D. C. Heinecke, A. Bartels, and S. A. Diddams, “Offset frequency dynamics and phase noise properties of a self-referenced 10 GHz Ti:sapphire frequency comb,” Opt. Express19(19), 18440–18451 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. D. Hillerkuss, R. Schmogrow, T. Schellinger, M. Jordan, M. Winter, G. Huber, T. Vallaitis, R. Bonk, P. Kleinow, F. Frey, M. Roeger, S. Koenig, A. Ludwig, A. Marculescu, J. Li, M. Hoh, M. Dreschmann, J. Meyer, S. Ben Ezra, N. Narkiss, B. Nebendahl, F. Parmigiani, P. Petropoulos, B. Resan, A. Oehler, K. Weingarten, T. Ellermeyer, J. Lutz, M. Moeller, M. Huebner, J. Becker, C. Koos, W. Freude, and J. Leuthold, “26 Tbit s−1 line-rate super-channel transmission utilizing all-optical fast Fourier transform processing,” Nat. Photonics5(6), 364–371 (2011). [CrossRef]
6. R. Aviles-Espinosa, G. Filippidis, C. Hamilton, G. Malcolm, K. J. Weingarten, T. Südmeyer, Y. Barbarin, U. Keller, S. I. C. O. Santos, D. Artigas, and P. Loza-Alvarez, “Compact ultrafast semiconductor disk laser: targeting GFP based nonlinear applications in living organisms,” Biomed. Opt. Express2(4), 739–747 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. S.-W. Chu, T.-M. Liu, C.-K. Sun, C.-Y. Lin, and H.-J. Tsai, “Real-time second-harmonic-generation microscopy based on a 2-GHz repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Express11(8), 933–938 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8. R. Paschotta, A. Schlatter, S. C. Zeller, H. R. Telle, and U. Keller, “Optical phase noise and carrier-envelope offset noise of mode-locked lasers,” Appl. Phys. B82(2), 265–273 (2006). [CrossRef]
9. A. Schlatter, B. Rudin, S. C. Zeller, R. Paschotta, G. J. Spühler, L. Krainer, N. Haverkamp, H. R. Telle, and U. Keller, “Nearly quantum-noise-limited timing jitter from miniature Er:Yb:glass lasers,” Opt. Lett.30(12), 1536–1538 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
10. A. E. H. Oehler, T. Südmeyer, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “100 GHz passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass laser at 1.5 µm with 1.6-ps pulses,” Opt. Express16(26), 21930–21935 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. L. Krainer, R. Paschotta, S. Lecomte, M. Moser, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “Compact Nd:YVO4 lasers with pulse repetition rates up to 160 GHz,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.38(10), 1331–1338 (2002). [CrossRef]
12. A. E. H. Oehler, M. C. Stumpf, S. Pekarek, T. Südmeyer, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “Picosecond diode-pumped 1.5 μm Er,Yb:glass lasers operating at 10–100 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. B99(1-2), 53–62 (2010). [CrossRef]
13. P. Wasylczyk, P. Wnuk, and C. Radzewicz, “Passively modelocked, diode-pumped Yb:KYW femtosecond oscillator with 1 GHz repetition rate,” Opt. Express17(7), 5630–5635 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14. S. Yamazoe, M. Katou, T. Adachi, and T. Kasamatsu, “Palm-top-size, 1.5 kW peak-power, and femtosecond (160 fs) diode-pumped mode-locked Yb+3:KY(WO4)2 solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror,” Opt. Lett.35(5), 748–750 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
15. D. Li, U. Demirbas, J. R. Birge, G. S. Petrich, L. A. Kolodziejski, A. Sennaroglu, F. X. Kärtner, and J. G. Fujimoto, “Diode-pumped passively mode-locked GHz femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser with kW peak power,” Opt. Lett.35(9), 1446–1448 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
16. S. Pekarek, T. Südmeyer, S. Lecomte, S. Kundermann, J. M. Dudley, and U. Keller, “Self-referenceable frequency comb from a gigahertz diode-pumped solid-state laser,” Opt. Express19(17), 16491–16497 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
17. S. Pekarek, C. Fiebig, M. C. Stumpf, A. E. H. Oehler, K. Paschke, G. Erbert, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Diode-pumped gigahertz femtosecond Yb:KGW laser with a peak power of 3.9 kW,” Opt. Express18(16), 16320–16326 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18. U. Keller, J. A. Valdmanis, M. C. Nuss, and A. M. Johnson, “53ps pulses at 1.32 µm from a harmonic mode-locked Nd:YAG laser,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.24(2), 427–430 (1988). [CrossRef]
19. M. F. Becker, D. J. Kuizenga, and A. E. Siegman, “Harmonic Mode Locking of the Nd:YAG laser,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.8(8), 687–693 (1972). [CrossRef]
20. C. Fiebig, G. Blume, C. Kaspari, D. Feise, J. Fricke, M. Matalla, W. John, H. Wenzel, K. Paschke, and G. Erbert, “12W high-brightness single-frequency DBR tapered diode laser,” Electron. Lett.44(21), 1253–1255 (2008). [CrossRef]
21. U. Keller, K. J. Weingarten, F. X. Kärtner, D. Kopf, B. Braun, I. D. Jung, R. Fluck, C. Hönninger, N. Matuschek, and J. Aus der Au, “Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) for femtosecond to nanosecond pulse generation in solid-state lasers,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.2(3), 435–453 (1996). [CrossRef]
22. M. Haiml, R. Grange, and U. Keller, “Optical characterization of semiconductor saturable absorbers,” Appl. Phys. B79(3), 331–339 (2004). [CrossRef]
23. C. Hönninger, R. Paschotta, F. Morier-Genoud, M. Moser, and U. Keller, “Q-switching stability limits of continuous-wave passive mode locking,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B16(1), 46–56 (1999). [CrossRef]
24. F. X. Kärtner, I. D. Jung, and U. Keller, “Soliton Mode-Locking with Saturable Absorbers,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.2(3), 540–556 (1996). [CrossRef]
25. R. Paschotta and U. Keller, “Passive mode locking with slow saturable absorbers,” Appl. Phys. B73(7), 653–662 (2001). [CrossRef]
26. F. Druon, S. Chénais, P. Raybaut, F. Balembois, P. Georges, R. Gaumé, G. Aka, B. Viana, S. Mohr, and D. Kopf, “Diode-pumped Yb:Sr3Y(BO3)3 femtosecond laser,” Opt. Lett.27(3), 197–199 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Appl. Phys. B

• H. R. Telle, G. Steinmeyer, A. E. Dunlop, J. Stenger, D. H. Sutter, and U. Keller, “Carrier-envelope offset phase control: A novel concept for absolute optical frequency measurement and ultrashort pulse generation,” Appl. Phys. B69(4), 327–332 (1999). [CrossRef]
• R. Paschotta, A. Schlatter, S. C. Zeller, H. R. Telle, and U. Keller, “Optical phase noise and carrier-envelope offset noise of mode-locked lasers,” Appl. Phys. B82(2), 265–273 (2006). [CrossRef]
• A. E. H. Oehler, M. C. Stumpf, S. Pekarek, T. Südmeyer, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “Picosecond diode-pumped 1.5 μm Er,Yb:glass lasers operating at 10–100 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. B99(1-2), 53–62 (2010). [CrossRef]
• M. Haiml, R. Grange, and U. Keller, “Optical characterization of semiconductor saturable absorbers,” Appl. Phys. B79(3), 331–339 (2004). [CrossRef]
• R. Paschotta and U. Keller, “Passive mode locking with slow saturable absorbers,” Appl. Phys. B73(7), 653–662 (2001). [CrossRef]

Biomed. Opt. Express

• R. Aviles-Espinosa, G. Filippidis, C. Hamilton, G. Malcolm, K. J. Weingarten, T. Südmeyer, Y. Barbarin, U. Keller, S. I. C. O. Santos, D. Artigas, and P. Loza-Alvarez, “Compact ultrafast semiconductor disk laser: targeting GFP based nonlinear applications in living organisms,” Biomed. Opt. Express2(4), 739–747 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Electron. Lett.

• C. Fiebig, G. Blume, C. Kaspari, D. Feise, J. Fricke, M. Matalla, W. John, H. Wenzel, K. Paschke, and G. Erbert, “12W high-brightness single-frequency DBR tapered diode laser,” Electron. Lett.44(21), 1253–1255 (2008). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• U. Keller, J. A. Valdmanis, M. C. Nuss, and A. M. Johnson, “53ps pulses at 1.32 µm from a harmonic mode-locked Nd:YAG laser,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.24(2), 427–430 (1988). [CrossRef]
• M. F. Becker, D. J. Kuizenga, and A. E. Siegman, “Harmonic Mode Locking of the Nd:YAG laser,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.8(8), 687–693 (1972). [CrossRef]
• L. Krainer, R. Paschotta, S. Lecomte, M. Moser, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “Compact Nd:YVO4 lasers with pulse repetition rates up to 160 GHz,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.38(10), 1331–1338 (2002). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.

• F. X. Kärtner, I. D. Jung, and U. Keller, “Soliton Mode-Locking with Saturable Absorbers,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.2(3), 540–556 (1996). [CrossRef]
• U. Keller, K. J. Weingarten, F. X. Kärtner, D. Kopf, B. Braun, I. D. Jung, R. Fluck, C. Hönninger, N. Matuschek, and J. Aus der Au, “Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) for femtosecond to nanosecond pulse generation in solid-state lasers,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron.2(3), 435–453 (1996). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• C. Hönninger, R. Paschotta, F. Morier-Genoud, M. Moser, and U. Keller, “Q-switching stability limits of continuous-wave passive mode locking,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B16(1), 46–56 (1999). [CrossRef]

Nat. Photonics

• D. Hillerkuss, R. Schmogrow, T. Schellinger, M. Jordan, M. Winter, G. Huber, T. Vallaitis, R. Bonk, P. Kleinow, F. Frey, M. Roeger, S. Koenig, A. Ludwig, A. Marculescu, J. Li, M. Hoh, M. Dreschmann, J. Meyer, S. Ben Ezra, N. Narkiss, B. Nebendahl, F. Parmigiani, P. Petropoulos, B. Resan, A. Oehler, K. Weingarten, T. Ellermeyer, J. Lutz, M. Moeller, M. Huebner, J. Becker, C. Koos, W. Freude, and J. Leuthold, “26 Tbit s−1 line-rate super-channel transmission utilizing all-optical fast Fourier transform processing,” Nat. Photonics5(6), 364–371 (2011). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• A. E. H. Oehler, T. Südmeyer, K. J. Weingarten, and U. Keller, “100 GHz passively mode-locked Er:Yb:glass laser at 1.5 µm with 1.6-ps pulses,” Opt. Express16(26), 21930–21935 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. Pekarek, T. Südmeyer, S. Lecomte, S. Kundermann, J. M. Dudley, and U. Keller, “Self-referenceable frequency comb from a gigahertz diode-pumped solid-state laser,” Opt. Express19(17), 16491–16497 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. Pekarek, C. Fiebig, M. C. Stumpf, A. E. H. Oehler, K. Paschke, G. Erbert, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Diode-pumped gigahertz femtosecond Yb:KGW laser with a peak power of 3.9 kW,” Opt. Express18(16), 16320–16326 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Wasylczyk, P. Wnuk, and C. Radzewicz, “Passively modelocked, diode-pumped Yb:KYW femtosecond oscillator with 1 GHz repetition rate,” Opt. Express17(7), 5630–5635 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S.-W. Chu, T.-M. Liu, C.-K. Sun, C.-Y. Lin, and H.-J. Tsai, “Real-time second-harmonic-generation microscopy based on a 2-GHz repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Express11(8), 933–938 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• D. C. Heinecke, A. Bartels, and S. A. Diddams, “Offset frequency dynamics and phase noise properties of a self-referenced 10 GHz Ti:sapphire frequency comb,” Opt. Express19(19), 18440–18451 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• A. Schlatter, B. Rudin, S. C. Zeller, R. Paschotta, G. J. Spühler, L. Krainer, N. Haverkamp, H. R. Telle, and U. Keller, “Nearly quantum-noise-limited timing jitter from miniature Er:Yb:glass lasers,” Opt. Lett.30(12), 1536–1538 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. Yamazoe, M. Katou, T. Adachi, and T. Kasamatsu, “Palm-top-size, 1.5 kW peak-power, and femtosecond (160 fs) diode-pumped mode-locked Yb+3:KY(WO4)2 solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror,” Opt. Lett.35(5), 748–750 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• D. Li, U. Demirbas, J. R. Birge, G. S. Petrich, L. A. Kolodziejski, A. Sennaroglu, F. X. Kärtner, and J. G. Fujimoto, “Diode-pumped passively mode-locked GHz femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser with kW peak power,” Opt. Lett.35(9), 1446–1448 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• F. Druon, S. Chénais, P. Raybaut, F. Balembois, P. Georges, R. Gaumé, G. Aka, B. Viana, S. Mohr, and D. Kopf, “Diode-pumped Yb:Sr3Y(BO3)3 femtosecond laser,” Opt. Lett.27(3), 197–199 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• S. A. Diddams, D. J. Jones, J. Ye, S. T. Cundiff, J. L. Hall, J. K. Ranka, R. S. Windeler, R. Holzwarth, T. Udem, and T. W. Hänsch, “Direct link between microwave and optical frequencies with a 300 THz femtosecond laser comb,” Phys. Rev. Lett.84(22), 5102–5105 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Science

• D. J. Jones, S. A. Diddams, J. K. Ranka, A. Stentz, R. S. Windeler, J. L. Hall, and S. T. Cundiff, “Carrier-envelope phase control of femtosecond mode-locked lasers and direct optical frequency synthesis,” Science288(5466), 635–639 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Click here to see a list of articles that cite this paper

Related Journal Articles

• Generation of 12-fs pulses from a diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser (OL)
• Time-interval analysis of laser-pulse-timing fluctuations (OL)
• Pulse timing stabilization of a mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser (OL)
• Self-referenceable frequency comb from a gigahertz diode-pumped solid-state laser (OE)
• High average-power ultrafast CPA Yb:KYW laser system with dual-slab amplifier (OE)

Related Conference Papers

• Generation of 15-fs pulses from an all-solid-state femtosecond Cr:LiSAF laser
• 60-W average power in 810-fs pulses from a thin-disk Yb:YAG laser
• Er³⁺ Doped Diode-Pumped Ceramic Laser Delivers 14 W CW at 2.7-μm
• Er³⁺ Doped Diode-Pumped Ceramic Laser Delivers 14 W CW at 2.7-μm
• Nearly Quantum Defect-Limited Efficiency Laser Operation of a Resonantly Pumped Er3+-Doped YVO4
• Nearly Quantum Defect-Limited Efficiency Laser Operation of a Resonantly Pumped Er3+-Doped YVO4
• Polarization switching in the 2-μm Tm:KLu(WO2)4 laser
• Polarization switching in the 2-μm Tm:KLu(WO2)4 laser