Hartung-Gorre Verlag

Inh.: Dr. Renate Gorre

D-78465 Konstanz / Germany

Fon: +49 (0)7533 97227

Fax: +49 (0)7533 97228

www.hartung-gorre.de

S

Series in Quantum Electronics
edited by
Henry Baltes, Peter Günter, Ursula Keller,
Fritz K. Kneubühl †, Walter Lukosz,
Hans Melchior, Markus W. Sigrist

 

Vol. 50

Max Christoph Stumpf

Diode-Pumped Solid-State Lasers
for Frequency Comb Generation.


1st edition 2010. XX, 124 pages, € 64,00.
ISBN 978-3-86628-306-0

 

Self-referenced frequency combs bridge optical to radio frequencies by a phase-stable link and thereby triggered significant progress in areas such as precision metrology and spectroscopy. The breakthrough was possible by measurement and stabilization of the carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency signal. This signal represents the otherwise unknown offset of the comb and enables absolute knowledge on the frequencies of its optical spectrum. This thesis describes the development of compact ultrafast laser oscillators and their efficient spectral broadening in highly nonlinear fibers for the generation of self-referenced frequency combs. Diode-pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSLs) are a promising alternative to overcome many limitations of current Ti:sapphire or fiber laser systems. We report on the first measurement and stabilization of the CEO frequency signal from a DPSSL operating in the 1.5 μm spectral region. The laser uses a high-Q cavity, which consumes less than 1.5 W of electrical power and results in low-noise operation. We generated the necessary coherent octave-spanning supercontinuum directly from the laser output without amplification or compression. This key challenge is solved by implementing a novel polarization maintaining highly nonlinear fiber. A free-running linewidth of only 3.6 kHz is achieved, which is an improvement of more than an order of magnitude when compared to femtosecond fiber laser systems operating in this spectral region. The CEO frequency is controlled and stabilized by the pump current, proving the development of an exciting tool for future usage in frequency metrology applications. Moreover, these results will open the door to novel optical frequency combs from diode-pumped solid-state and semiconductor lasers, which is a particularly important step towards scaling of the repetition rate.

 

Max C. Stumpf received his diploma in physics from the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Germany 2005. He joined the Institute for Quantum Electronics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland 2006. His research interests include the development of novel ultrafast laser sources, in particular low-noise diode-pumped solid-state lasers, high brightness fiber sources, supercontinuum generation, as well as optical frequency metrology.

 

Keywords: supercontinuum generation, optical frequency metrology, highly-nonlinear fibers, modelocked lasers, ultrafast lasers, frequency combs, carrier-envelope-offset detection, carrier-envelope-phase detection, femtosecond diode-pumped solid-state lasers, semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors

Series in Quantum Electronics

Direkt bestellen bei / to order directly from:

Hartung-Gorre Verlag

Hartung-Gorre Verlag / D-78465 Konstanz / Germany

Telefon: +49 (0) 7533 97227  Telefax: +49 (0) 7533 97228
http://www.hartung-gorre.de   eMail: verlag@hartung-gorre.de