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175 GHz, 400-fs-pulse harmonically mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser. |
Optics Express, Vol. 20, Issue 7, pp. 7040-7045 (2012)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.20.007040
Acrobat PDF (1112 KB)
Abstract
We report a harmonically mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) producing 400 fs pulses at a repetition frequency of 175 GHz with an average output power of 300 mW. Harmonic mode-locking was established using a 300 µm thick intracavity single crystal diamond heat spreader in thermal contact with the front surface of the gain sample using liquid capillary bonding. The repetition frequency was set by the diamond microcavity and stable harmonic mode locking was achieved when the laser cavity length was tuned so that the laser operated on the 117th harmonic of the fundamental cavity. When an etalon placed intracavity next to the gain sample, but not in thermal contact was used pulse groups were observed. These contained 300 fs pulses with a spacing of 5.9 ps. We conclude that to achieve stable harmonic mode locking at repetition frequencies in the 100s of GHz range in a VECSEL there is a threshold pulse energy above which harmonic mode locking is achieved and below which groups of pulses are observed.
© 2012 OSA
1. Introduction
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]
A. Bartels, D. Heinecke, and S. A. Diddams, “Passively mode-locked 10 GHz femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Lett. 33(16), 1905–1907 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
M. G. Thompson, A. Rae, R. L. Sellin, C. Marinelli, R. V. Penty, I. H. White, A. R. Kovsh, S. S. Mikhrin, D. A. Livshits, and I. L. Krestnikov, “Subpicosecond high-power mode locking using flared waveguide monolithic quantum-dot lasers,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(13), 133119 (2006). [CrossRef]
E. Yoshida and M. Nakazawa, “80 - 200GHz erbium doped fibre laser using a rational harmonic mode-locking technique,” Electron. Lett. 32(15), 1370–1372 (1996). [CrossRef]
Y. K. Chen and M. C. Wu, “Monolithic colliding-pulse mode-locked quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 28(10), 2176–2185 (1992). [CrossRef]
A. H. Quarterman, A. Perevedentsev, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, H. E. Beere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Passively harmonically mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting 1.1 ps pulses at 147 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 97(25), 251101 (2010). [CrossRef]
E. Yoshida and M. Nakazawa, “80 - 200GHz erbium doped fibre laser using a rational harmonic mode-locking technique,” Electron. Lett. 32(15), 1370–1372 (1996). [CrossRef]
Y. K. Chen and M. C. Wu, “Monolithic colliding-pulse mode-locked quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 28(10), 2176–2185 (1992). [CrossRef]
T. Shimizu, I. Ogura, and H. Yokoyama, “860 GHz rate asymmetric colliding pulse modelocked diode lasers,” Electron. Lett. 33(22), 1868–1869 (1997). [CrossRef]
D. A. Yanson, M. W. Street, S. D. McDougall, I. G. Thayne, J. H. Marsh, and E. A. Avrutin, “Ultrafast harmonic mode-locking of monolithic compound-cavity laser diodes incorporating photonic-bandgap reflectors,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 38(1), 1–11 (2002). [CrossRef]
A. H. Quarterman, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, Z. Mihoubi, S. P. Elsmere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “A passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser emitting 60-fs pulses,” Nat. Photonics 3(12), 729–731 (2009). [CrossRef]
P. Klopp, U. Griebner, M. Zorn, and M. Weyers, “Pulse repetition rate up to 92 GHz or pulse duration shorter than 110 fs from a mode-locked semiconductor disk laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98(7), 071103 (2011). [CrossRef]
M. Hoffmann, O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, I. L. Krestnikov, D. A. Livshits, Y. Barbarin, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond high-power quantum dot vertical external cavity surface emitting laser,” Opt. Express 19(9), 8108–8116 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
K. G. Wilcox, Z. Mihoubi, G. J. Daniell, S. Elsmere, A. Quarterman, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “Ultrafast optical Stark mode-locked semiconductor laser,” Opt. Lett. 33(23), 2797–2799 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “High peak power femtosecond pulse passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 22(14), 1021–1023 (2010). [CrossRef]
D. Lorenser, D. Maas, H. J. Unold, A. R. Bellancourt, B. Rudin, E. Gini, D. Ebling, and U. Keller, “50-GHz passively mode-locked surface-emitting semiconductor laser with 100-mW average output power,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 42(8), 838–847 (2006). [CrossRef]
S. Hoogland, A. Garnache, I. Sagnes, J. S. Roberts, and A. C. Tropper, “10-GHz train of sub-500-fs optical soliton-like pulses from a surface-emitting semiconductor laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 17(2), 267–269 (2005). [CrossRef]
O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, M. Mangold, M. Hoffmann, M. Golling, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond VECSEL with tunable multi-gigahertz repetition rate,” Opt. Express 19(23), 23538–23543 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Repetition-frequency-tunable mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser between 2.78 and 7.87 GHz,” Opt. Express 19(23), 23453–23459 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
P. Klopp, U. Griebner, M. Zorn, and M. Weyers, “Pulse repetition rate up to 92 GHz or pulse duration shorter than 110 fs from a mode-locked semiconductor disk laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98(7), 071103 (2011). [CrossRef]
A. H. Quarterman, A. Perevedentsev, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, H. E. Beere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Passively harmonically mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting 1.1 ps pulses at 147 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 97(25), 251101 (2010). [CrossRef]
P. Dupriez, C. Finot, A. Malinowski, J. K. Sahu, J. Nilsson, D. J. Richardson, K. G. Wilcox, H. D. Foreman, and A. C. Tropper, “High-power, high repetition rate picosecond and femtosecond sources based on Yb-doped fiber amplification of VECSELs,” Opt. Express 14(21), 9611–9616 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
2. Samples and cavity
3. Results
4. Discussion
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. B 16(1), 46–56 (1999). [CrossRef]
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “High peak power femtosecond pulse passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 22(14), 1021–1023 (2010). [CrossRef]
A. Garnache, S. Hoogland, A. C. Tropper, I. Sagnes, G. Saint-Girons, and J. S. Roberts, “Sub-500-fs soliton-like pulse in a passively mode-locked broadband surface-emitting laser with 100 mW average power,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 80(21), 3892–3894 (2002). [CrossRef]
| Parameter | VECSEL with sapphire etalon | VECSEL with diamond etalon |
|---|---|---|
| Esat,g | 0.628 nJ2 | 1.26 nJ2 |
| Esat,a | 33.9 nJ2 | 33.9 nJ2 |
| ∆R | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| N | 112 | 116 |
| Ep | 19.7 pJ | 286 pJ |
| NEp2/(Esat,aEsat,g∆R) | 0.29 | 74 |
7. Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References and links
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] | |
A. Bartels, D. Heinecke, and S. A. Diddams, “Passively mode-locked 10 GHz femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Lett. 33(16), 1905–1907 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
M. G. Thompson, A. Rae, R. L. Sellin, C. Marinelli, R. V. Penty, I. H. White, A. R. Kovsh, S. S. Mikhrin, D. A. Livshits, and I. L. Krestnikov, “Subpicosecond high-power mode locking using flared waveguide monolithic quantum-dot lasers,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(13), 133119 (2006). [CrossRef] | |
E. Yoshida and M. Nakazawa, “80 - 200GHz erbium doped fibre laser using a rational harmonic mode-locking technique,” Electron. Lett. 32(15), 1370–1372 (1996). [CrossRef] | |
Y. K. Chen and M. C. Wu, “Monolithic colliding-pulse mode-locked quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 28(10), 2176–2185 (1992). [CrossRef] | |
A. H. Quarterman, A. Perevedentsev, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, H. E. Beere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Passively harmonically mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting 1.1 ps pulses at 147 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 97(25), 251101 (2010). [CrossRef] | |
T. Shimizu, I. Ogura, and H. Yokoyama, “860 GHz rate asymmetric colliding pulse modelocked diode lasers,” Electron. Lett. 33(22), 1868–1869 (1997). [CrossRef] | |
D. A. Yanson, M. W. Street, S. D. McDougall, I. G. Thayne, J. H. Marsh, and E. A. Avrutin, “Ultrafast harmonic mode-locking of monolithic compound-cavity laser diodes incorporating photonic-bandgap reflectors,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 38(1), 1–11 (2002). [CrossRef] | |
A. H. Quarterman, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, Z. Mihoubi, S. P. Elsmere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “A passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser emitting 60-fs pulses,” Nat. Photonics 3(12), 729–731 (2009). [CrossRef] | |
P. Klopp, U. Griebner, M. Zorn, and M. Weyers, “Pulse repetition rate up to 92 GHz or pulse duration shorter than 110 fs from a mode-locked semiconductor disk laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 98(7), 071103 (2011). [CrossRef] | |
M. Hoffmann, O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, I. L. Krestnikov, D. A. Livshits, Y. Barbarin, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond high-power quantum dot vertical external cavity surface emitting laser,” Opt. Express 19(9), 8108–8116 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
K. G. Wilcox, Z. Mihoubi, G. J. Daniell, S. Elsmere, A. Quarterman, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “Ultrafast optical Stark mode-locked semiconductor laser,” Opt. Lett. 33(23), 2797–2799 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “High peak power femtosecond pulse passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 22(14), 1021–1023 (2010). [CrossRef] | |
D. Lorenser, D. Maas, H. J. Unold, A. R. Bellancourt, B. Rudin, E. Gini, D. Ebling, and U. Keller, “50-GHz passively mode-locked surface-emitting semiconductor laser with 100-mW average output power,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 42(8), 838–847 (2006). [CrossRef] | |
S. Hoogland, A. Garnache, I. Sagnes, J. S. Roberts, and A. C. Tropper, “10-GHz train of sub-500-fs optical soliton-like pulses from a surface-emitting semiconductor laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 17(2), 267–269 (2005). [CrossRef] | |
O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, M. Mangold, M. Hoffmann, M. Golling, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond VECSEL with tunable multi-gigahertz repetition rate,” Opt. Express 19(23), 23538–23543 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Variable repetition frequency femtosecond-pulse surface emitting semiconductor laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 99(13), 131107 (2011). [CrossRef] | |
K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Repetition-frequency-tunable mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser between 2.78 and 7.87 GHz,” Opt. Express 19(23), 23453–23459 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
P. Dupriez, C. Finot, A. Malinowski, J. K. Sahu, J. Nilsson, D. J. Richardson, K. G. Wilcox, H. D. Foreman, and A. C. Tropper, “High-power, high repetition rate picosecond and femtosecond sources based on Yb-doped fiber amplification of VECSELs,” Opt. Express 14(21), 9611–9616 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed] | |
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. B 16(1), 46–56 (1999). [CrossRef] | |
A. Garnache, S. Hoogland, A. C. Tropper, I. Sagnes, G. Saint-Girons, and J. S. Roberts, “Sub-500-fs soliton-like pulse in a passively mode-locked broadband surface-emitting laser with 100 mW average power,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 80(21), 3892–3894 (2002). [CrossRef] |
OCIS Codes
(140.4050) Lasers and laser optics : Mode-locked lasers
(140.5960) Lasers and laser optics : Semiconductor lasers
(140.7090) Lasers and laser optics : Ultrafast lasers
ToC Category:
Ultrafast Optics
History
Original Manuscript: November 28, 2011
Revised Manuscript: January 31, 2012
Manuscript Accepted: January 31, 2012
Published: March 13, 2012
Virtual Issues
Vol. 7, Iss. 5 Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics
Modular Ultrafast Lasers (Invited Only) (2012) Optics Express
Citation
Keith G. Wilcox, Adrian H. Quarterman, Vasilis Apostolopoulos, Harvey E. Beere, Ian Farrer, David A. Ritchie, and Anne C. Tropper, "175 GHz, 400-fs-pulse harmonically mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser.," Opt. Express 20, 7040-7045 (2012)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/vjbo/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-20-7-7040
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References
- 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]
- A. Bartels, D. Heinecke, and S. A. Diddams, “Passively mode-locked 10 GHz femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Lett.33(16), 1905–1907 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- M. G. Thompson, A. Rae, R. L. Sellin, C. Marinelli, R. V. Penty, I. H. White, A. R. Kovsh, S. S. Mikhrin, D. A. Livshits, and I. L. Krestnikov, “Subpicosecond high-power mode locking using flared waveguide monolithic quantum-dot lasers,” Appl. Phys. Lett.88(13), 133119 (2006). [CrossRef]
- E. Yoshida and M. Nakazawa, “80 - 200GHz erbium doped fibre laser using a rational harmonic mode-locking technique,” Electron. Lett.32(15), 1370–1372 (1996). [CrossRef]
- Y. K. Chen and M. C. Wu, “Monolithic colliding-pulse mode-locked quantum-well lasers,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.28(10), 2176–2185 (1992). [CrossRef]
- A. H. Quarterman, A. Perevedentsev, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, H. E. Beere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Passively harmonically mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser emitting 1.1 ps pulses at 147 GHz repetition rate,” Appl. Phys. Lett.97(25), 251101 (2010). [CrossRef]
- T. Shimizu, I. Ogura, and H. Yokoyama, “860 GHz rate asymmetric colliding pulse modelocked diode lasers,” Electron. Lett.33(22), 1868–1869 (1997). [CrossRef]
- D. A. Yanson, M. W. Street, S. D. McDougall, I. G. Thayne, J. H. Marsh, and E. A. Avrutin, “Ultrafast harmonic mode-locking of monolithic compound-cavity laser diodes incorporating photonic-bandgap reflectors,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.38(1), 1–11 (2002). [CrossRef]
- A. H. Quarterman, K. G. Wilcox, V. Apostolopoulos, Z. Mihoubi, S. P. Elsmere, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “A passively mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor laser emitting 60-fs pulses,” Nat. Photonics3(12), 729–731 (2009). [CrossRef]
- P. Klopp, U. Griebner, M. Zorn, and M. Weyers, “Pulse repetition rate up to 92 GHz or pulse duration shorter than 110 fs from a mode-locked semiconductor disk laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett.98(7), 071103 (2011). [CrossRef]
- M. Hoffmann, O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, I. L. Krestnikov, D. A. Livshits, Y. Barbarin, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond high-power quantum dot vertical external cavity surface emitting laser,” Opt. Express19(9), 8108–8116 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- K. G. Wilcox, Z. Mihoubi, G. J. Daniell, S. Elsmere, A. Quarterman, I. Farrer, D. A. Ritchie, and A. Tropper, “Ultrafast optical Stark mode-locked semiconductor laser,” Opt. Lett.33(23), 2797–2799 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “High peak power femtosecond pulse passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.22(14), 1021–1023 (2010). [CrossRef]
- D. Lorenser, D. Maas, H. J. Unold, A. R. Bellancourt, B. Rudin, E. Gini, D. Ebling, and U. Keller, “50-GHz passively mode-locked surface-emitting semiconductor laser with 100-mW average output power,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron.42(8), 838–847 (2006). [CrossRef]
- S. Hoogland, A. Garnache, I. Sagnes, J. S. Roberts, and A. C. Tropper, “10-GHz train of sub-500-fs optical soliton-like pulses from a surface-emitting semiconductor laser,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.17(2), 267–269 (2005). [CrossRef]
- O. D. Sieber, V. J. Wittwer, M. Mangold, M. Hoffmann, M. Golling, T. Südmeyer, and U. Keller, “Femtosecond VECSEL with tunable multi-gigahertz repetition rate,” Opt. Express19(23), 23538–23543 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Variable repetition frequency femtosecond-pulse surface emitting semiconductor laser,” Appl. Phys. Lett.99(13), 131107 (2011). [CrossRef]
- K. G. Wilcox, A. H. Quarterman, H. E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie, and A. C. Tropper, “Repetition-frequency-tunable mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser between 2.78 and 7.87 GHz,” Opt. Express19(23), 23453–23459 (2011). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- P. Dupriez, C. Finot, A. Malinowski, J. K. Sahu, J. Nilsson, D. J. Richardson, K. G. Wilcox, H. D. Foreman, and A. C. Tropper, “High-power, high repetition rate picosecond and femtosecond sources based on Yb-doped fiber amplification of VECSELs,” Opt. Express14(21), 9611–9616 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- 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]
- A. Garnache, S. Hoogland, A. C. Tropper, I. Sagnes, G. Saint-Girons, and J. S. Roberts, “Sub-500-fs soliton-like pulse in a passively mode-locked broadband surface-emitting laser with 100 mW average power,” Appl. Phys. Lett.80(21), 3892–3894 (2002). [CrossRef]
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