Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser

A Kerr lens mode-locking (KLM) technique is well recognized as the modelocking process to generate ultrashort pulses to the few femtosecond regimes. However, KLM is typically not self-starting i.e. the pulse formation does not start on its own and requires additional perturbation. By introducing a s...

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Main Author:	Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq
Format:	Thesis
Published:	2012
Subjects:	QC Physics
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spelling	my-utm-ep.422462020-08-23T06:11:39Z Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser 2012 Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq QC Physics A Kerr lens mode-locking (KLM) technique is well recognized as the modelocking process to generate ultrashort pulses to the few femtosecond regimes. However, KLM is typically not self-starting i.e. the pulse formation does not start on its own and requires additional perturbation. By introducing a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in the laser system, it is possible to obtain selfstart femtosecond laser system with wide tuning range and which is also independent of the cavity design. In this work, an experimental study is carried out on the selfstarting KLM Ti: sapphire laser. The laser is aligned in asymmetric Z-folded cavity comprising of four mirrors with the SESAM as one of the end mirror of the cavity. The Ti: sapphire crystal is employed as the gain medium and is positioned between the two concave mirrors inside a linear cavity portion. The crystal is optically pumped by a Diode Pump Solid State (DPSS) laser at 532 nm which is focused on the Ti: sapphire laser crystal to produce a fundamental wavelength of 808 nm. The dispersion compensation is achieved by introducing the intracavity pair of prism. The mode-locked pulse trains signal is detected via a fast photodiode coupled to an oscilloscope. The femtosecond pulse is measured using interferometric autocorrelation (IAC) technique via an Autocorrelator device. Pulse duration as short as 55 fs and average output powers up to 138 mW at the pump power of 5.5 W is obtained from the self-starting laser. The signal shows that SESAM can provide close to the theoretical transform-limit even at a higher region of the pumping power compared to a non self-starting laser. The maximum tuning range is observed about 93 nm within the cavity length of 767 nm to 860.28 nm. The laser pulse with maximum power and the shortest pulse duration is observed atwavelength of 813 nm. Dual-wavelength emission is randomly observed as the pump power increases. 2012 Thesis http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/42246/ http://dms.library.utm.my:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:75709 masters Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Science Faculty of Science
institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
collection	UTM Institutional Repository
topic	QC Physics
spellingShingle	QC Physics Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
description	A Kerr lens mode-locking (KLM) technique is well recognized as the modelocking process to generate ultrashort pulses to the few femtosecond regimes. However, KLM is typically not self-starting i.e. the pulse formation does not start on its own and requires additional perturbation. By introducing a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in the laser system, it is possible to obtain selfstart femtosecond laser system with wide tuning range and which is also independent of the cavity design. In this work, an experimental study is carried out on the selfstarting KLM Ti: sapphire laser. The laser is aligned in asymmetric Z-folded cavity comprising of four mirrors with the SESAM as one of the end mirror of the cavity. The Ti: sapphire crystal is employed as the gain medium and is positioned between the two concave mirrors inside a linear cavity portion. The crystal is optically pumped by a Diode Pump Solid State (DPSS) laser at 532 nm which is focused on the Ti: sapphire laser crystal to produce a fundamental wavelength of 808 nm. The dispersion compensation is achieved by introducing the intracavity pair of prism. The mode-locked pulse trains signal is detected via a fast photodiode coupled to an oscilloscope. The femtosecond pulse is measured using interferometric autocorrelation (IAC) technique via an Autocorrelator device. Pulse duration as short as 55 fs and average output powers up to 138 mW at the pump power of 5.5 W is obtained from the self-starting laser. The signal shows that SESAM can provide close to the theoretical transform-limit even at a higher region of the pumping power compared to a non self-starting laser. The maximum tuning range is observed about 93 nm within the cavity length of 767 nm to 860.28 nm. The laser pulse with maximum power and the shortest pulse duration is observed atwavelength of 813 nm. Dual-wavelength emission is randomly observed as the pump power increases.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq
author_facet	Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq
author_sort	Affandi, Mohd. Syafiq
title	Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
title_short	Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
title_full	Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
title_fullStr	Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
title_full_unstemmed	Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
title_sort	generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser
granting_institution	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Science
granting_department	Faculty of Science
publishDate	2012
_version_	1747816725449015296

Generation and characterization of self-starting titanium sapphire laser

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