Pulse duration

About: Pulse duration is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 19429 publications have been published within this topic receiving 286507 citations.

Femtosecond high-power quantum dot vertical external cavity surface emitting laser.

Abstract: We report on the first femtosecond vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) exceeding 1 W of average output power. The VECSEL is optically pumped, based on self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) gain layers, cooled efficiently using a thin disk geometry and passively modelocked with a fast quantum dot semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). We developed a novel gain structure with a flat group delay dispersion (GDD) of ± 10 fs2 over a range of 30 nm around the designed operation wavelength of 960 nm. This amount of GDD is several orders of magnitude lower compared to standard designs. Furthermore, we used an optimized positioning scheme of 63 QD gain layers to broaden and flatten the spectral gain. For stable and self-starting pulse formation, we have employed a QD-SESAM with a fast absorption recovery time of around 500 fs. We have achieved 1 W of average output power with 784-fs pulse duration at a repetition rate of 5.4 GHz. The QD-SESAM and the QD-VECSEL are operated with similar cavity mode areas, which is beneficial for higher repetition rates and the integration of both elements into a modelocked integrated external-cavity surface emitting laser (MIXSEL).

Pulsed source scanning interferometer

Abstract: A pulsed light source in used conjunction with a ramping scanning mechanism for phase-shift and vertical-scanning interferometry. The pulse length and the scanning velocity are selected such that a minimal change in OPD occurs during the pulse. As long as the duration of the pulse is shorter than the detector's integration time, the effective integration time and the corresponding phase shift are determined by the length of the pulse, rather than the detector's characteristics. The resulting minimal phase shift produces negligible loss of fringe modulation, thereby greatly improving signal utilization during phase-shifting and vertical-scanning interferometry.

Optimization of the volume ablation rate for metals at different laser pulse-durations from ps to fs

Abstract: Ultra short laser pulses in the ps or fs regime are used, when high requirements concerning machining quality are demanded. However, beside the quality also the process efficiency denotes a key factor for the successful transfer of this technology into real industrial applications. Based on the ablation law, holding for ultra short pulses with moderate fluences, it has been shown that the volume ablation rate can be maximized with an optimum setting of the laser parameters. The value of this maximum depends on the threshold fluence and the energy penetration depth. Both measures themselves depend on the pulse duration. For metals the dependence of the threshold fluence is well known, it stays almost constant for pulse durations up to about 10 ps and begin then to slightly increase with the pulse duration. The contrary behavior is observed for the energy penetration depth, it decreases over the whole range when the pulse duration is raised from 500 fs to 50 ps. In this paper we will show that the maximum ablation rate can therefore be increased by a factor of 1.5 to 2 when the pulse duration is reduced from 10 ps down to 500 fs.

Comparison of holmium:YAG and thulium fiber laser lithotripsy: ablation thresholds, ablation rates, and retropulsion effects

Abstract: The holmium:YAG (Ho:YAG) laser lithotriptor is capable of operating at high pulse energies, but efficient operation is limited to low pulse rates (∼10 Hz) during lithotripsy. On the contrary, the thulium fiber laser (TFL) is limited to low pulse energies, but can operate efficiently at high pulse rates (up to 1000 Hz). This study compares stone ablation threshold, ablation rate, and retropulsion for the two different Ho:YAG and TFL operation modes. The TFL (λ = 1908 nm) was operated with pulse energies of 5 to 35 mJ, 500-μs pulse duration, and pulse rates of 10 to 400 Hz. The Ho:YAG laser (λ = 2120 nm) was operated with pulse energies of 30 to 550 mJ, 350-μs pulse duration, and a pulse rate of 10 Hz. Laser energy was delivered through 200- and 270-μm-core optical fibers in contact mode with human calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones for ablation studies and plaster-of-Paris stone phantoms for retropulsion studies. The COM stone ablation threshold for Ho:YAG and TFL measured 82.6 and 20.8 J∕cm(2), respectively. Stone retropulsion with the Ho:YAG laser linearly increased with pulse energy. Retropulsion with TFL was minimal at pulse rates less than 150 Hz, then rapidly increased at higher pulse rates. For minimal stone retropulsion, Ho:YAG operation at pulse energies less than 175 mJ at 10 Hz and TFL operation at 35 mJ at 100 Hz is recommended, with both lasers producing comparable ablation rates. Further development of a TFL operating with both high pulse energies of 100 to 200 mJ and high pulse rates of 100 to 150 Hz may also provide an alternative to the Ho:YAG laser for higher ablation rates, when retropulsion is not a primary concern.

Evaluation of nonlinear absorptivity in internal modification of bulk glass by ultrashort laser pulses

Abstract: Thermal conduction model is presented, by which nonlinear absorptivity of ultrashort laser pulses in internal modification of bulk glass is simulated. The simulated nonlinear absorptivity agrees with experimental values with maximum uncertainty of ± 3% in a wide range of laser parameters at 10 ps pulse duration in borosilicate glass. The nonlinear absorptivity increases with increasing energy and repetition rate of the laser pulse, reaching as high as 90%. The increase in the average absorbed laser power is accompanied by the extension of the laser-absorption region toward the laser source. Transient thermal conduction model for three-dimensional heat source shows that laser energy is absorbed by avalanche ionization seeded by thermally excited free-electrons at locations apart from the focus at pulse repetition rates higher than 100 kHz.