Abstract

We present a dispersion-free method for the pulse duration reduction of passively $Q$-switched microchip laser (MCL) seed sources. This technique comprises two stages: one that carries out the self-phase modulation induced spectral broadening in a waveguide structure and a subsequent spectral filtering stage in order to shorten the pulses in time domain. The setup of a proof-of-principle experiment consists of a fiber-amplified passively $Q$-switched MCL, a passive single-mode fiber used as nonlinear element in which the spectrum is broadened, and a reflective volume-Bragg-grating acting as bandpass filter. A reduction of the pulse duration from 118 to 32 ps with high temporal quality has been achieved with this setup.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

Smoothed spectra for enhanced dispersion-free pulse duration reduction of passively Q-switched microchip lasers

R. Lehneis, C. Jauregui, A. Steinmetz, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann
Opt. Lett. 39(3) 505-508 (2014)

Wavelength-tunable, sub-picosecond pulses from a passively Q-switched microchip laser system

R. Lehneis, A. Steinmetz, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann
Opt. Lett. 38(14) 2478-2480 (2013)

All-fiber pulse shortening of passively Q-switched microchip laser pulses down to sub-200  fs

R. Lehneis, A. Steinmetz, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann
Opt. Lett. 39(20) 5806-5809 (2014)

Sub-5-ps, multimegawatt peak-power pulses from a fiber-amplified and optically compressed passively Q-switched microchip laser

A. Steinmetz, F. Jansen, F. Stutzki, R. Lehneis, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann
Opt. Lett. 37(13) 2550-2552 (2012)

Reduction of timing jitter in passively Q-switched microchip lasers using self-injection seeding

Alexander Steinmetz, Dirk Nodop, Andreas Martin, Jens Limpert, and Andreas Tünnermann
Opt. Lett. 35(17) 2885-2887 (2010)