Frequency-doubled DBR-tapered diode laser for direct pumping of Ti:sapphire lasers generating sub-20 fs pulses

• Published in: Optics express Vol. 19; no. 13; pp. 12156 - 12163
• Main Authors: Müller, André, Jensen, Ole Bjarlin, Unterhuber, Angelika, Le, Tuan, Stingl, Andreas, Hasler, Karl-Heinz, Sumpf, Bernd, Erbert, Götz, Andersen, Peter E, Petersen, Paul Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 20.06.2011
• Subjects: Aluminum Oxide - chemistry; Equipment Design; Lasers, Semiconductor; Lasers, Solid-State; Models, Theoretical; Optics and Photonics - instrumentation; Titanium - chemistry
• ISSN: 1094-4087
• DOI: 10.1364/OE.19.012156

For the first time a single-pass frequency doubled DBR-tapered diode laser suitable for pumping Ti:sapphire lasers generating ultrashort pulses is demonstrated. The maximum output powers achieved when pumping the Ti:sapphire laser are 110 mW (CW) and 82 mW (mode-locked) respectively at 1.2 W of pump power. This corresponds to a reduction in optical conversion efficiencies to 75% of the values achieved with a commercial diode pumped solid-state laser. However, the superior electro-optical efficiency of the diode laser improves the overall efficiency of the Ti:sapphire laser by a factor > 2. The optical spectrum emitted by the Ti:sapphire laser when pumped with our diode laser shows a spectral width of 112 nm (FWHM). Based on autocorrelation measurements, pulse widths of less than 20 fs can therefore be expected.