《Astigmatism in Gaussian-beam self-focusing and in resonators for Kerr-lens mode locking》.pdf

476 J. Opt. Soc. Am. B/Vol. 12, No. 3/March 1995 Magni et al. Astigmatism in Gaussian-beam self-focusing and in resonators for Kerr-lens mode locking V. Magni, G. Cerullo, S. De Silvestri, and A. Monguzzi Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico, Centro di Elettronica Quantistica e Strumentazione Elettronica del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy Received August 8, 1994; revised manuscript received October 20, 1994 An analytical treatment for the propagation of astigmatic Gaussian beams in Kerr media is presented. This method, which is valid to the first order in the beam power, allows us to calculate in closed form the nonlinear variations of the spot size and the radius of curvature. This formalism is applied to the calculation of the self-consistent Gaussian mode of an astigmatic resonator with a Kerr medium, such as those used for Kerr- lens mode-locked lasers. Theoretical predictions are confirmed by the experimental results obtained with a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. In particular, the design of an optimized resonator permits self-starting of the mode-locking mechanism. 1. INTRODUCTION medium is therefore essential. For astigmatic Gauss- ian beams the aberrationless approximation provides In past years self-focusing effects in materials with fast differential equations describing the propagation of the Kerr nonlinearities have found an important application beam spot sizes along t