Abstract

It is experimentally shown that pulse-to-pulse instabilities in the output of Kerr lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers are usual and that they can affect some of the pulse variables (e.g., the spot size) and not others (e.g., pulse duration and energy). These instabilities are not detectable in the averaged signals (such as the autocorrelation of the pulse) that are customarily used for controlling the laser. But, if they are present but are disregarded, these instabilities have undesirable consequences in almost any application. A simple way to detect and eliminate the instabilities is described.

© 1999 Optical Society of America

Semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror–assisted Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser producing pulses in the two-cycle regime

D. H. Sutter, G. Steinmeyer, L. Gallmann, N. Matuschek, F. Morier-Genoud, U. Keller, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, and T. Tschudi
Opt. Lett. 24(9) 631-633 (1999)

Sub-two-cycle pulses from a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser

U. Morgner, F. X. Kärtner, S. H. Cho, Y. Chen, H. A. Haus, J. G. Fujimoto, E. P. Ippen, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, and T. Tschudi
Opt. Lett. 24(6) 411-413 (1999)

Low-repetition-rate high-peak-power Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Al₂O₃ laser with a multiple-pass cavity

S. H. Cho, B. E. Bouma, E. P. Ippen, and J. G. Fujimoto
Opt. Lett. 24(6) 417-419 (1999)

Pulse-resolved measurements of subharmonic oscillations in a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser

S. R. Bolton, R. A. Jenks, C. N. Elkinton, and G. Sucha
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16(2) 339-344 (1999)

Generation of 90-nJ pulses with a 4-MHz repetition-rate Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Al₂O₃ laser operating with net positive and negative intracavity dispersion

S. H. Cho, F. X. Kärtner, U. Morgner, E. P. Ippen, J. G. Fujimoto, J. E. Cunningham, and W. H. Knox
Opt. Lett. 26(8) 560-562 (2001)