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AssigneesFraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena
InventorsDirk Nodop, Alexander Steinmetz, Jens Limpert, Andreas Tuennermann
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The invention relates to a laser system with a passively Q-switched laser 1, a spectrally widening element 3, and a compression element 4. Laser systems of this kind are utilized for generating ultra-short laser pulses. Systems, mode-coupled solid-state lasers known from prior art allow for generating laser pulses in the sub-10 ps range only with complicated and alignment-sensitive free-beam arrangements. Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to create a laser system that generates pulse durations of less than 10 ps and which is simple and compact to produce at the same time. In order to achieve this object, the present invention proposes that the passively Q-switched laser 1 is provided with a longitudinally monomode output radiation which is spectrally widened by means of the spectrally widening element 3 by self-phase modulation and is temporally compressed by the compression element 4.
Laser system with a passively Q-switched laser, a spectrally widening element comprising an optical single-mode fiber, and a compression element comprising a Bragg grating or a transmitting or a reflecting grating pair or a prism structure, wherein the passively Q-switched laser is a microchip laser comprising a neodymium-endowed vanadate crystal and a saturable semiconductor mirror, has a pulse duration of less than 200 ps and emits a single longitudinal mode which is received by the optical single-mode fiber and is spectrally widened by means of the spectrally widening element by self-phase modulation and is temporally compressed by the compression element such that a shortened pulse duration is achieved.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.