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Ultrafast (UF) mode-locked (ML) lasers are extremely powerful tools in scientific research and industrial applications including material processing, nonlinear optics, attosecond science, metrology, etc. The most popular UF Ti:sapphire laser applications are limited by its high ownership cost, system complexity and low power transfer efficiency. Yb3+:CaF2 has been recognized as a promising candidate for a high efficient and high power femtosecond laser, for its simple energy-level scheme, high quantum efficiency (~1), very small quantum defect ( 70 nm), high thermal conductivity and compatibility with high power InGaAs diode pumping. Two types of Yb3+:CaF2 ML resonators based on semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAM's) and Kerr lens mode-locking (KLM) have been demonstrated and analyzed in detail. A Kerr-lens ML oscillator was constructed for continuous-wave modelocking operations by incorporating an additional optical element with an enhanced nonlinear Kerr coefficient, which represents the first such investigation for an Yb3+:CaF2 oscillator to our best knowledge.
About the author
I got my PhD in Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, UK. I am currently a lecturer in the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, US. My broad research interests include land use and land management, landscape perceptions and values, sustainable consumption and production, and water footprint.
