第三讲-超短冲的产生.pptVIP

* Slide used with permission from Dan Mittleman * The result is a family of compact and reliable lasers, with high average power, exceptional energy per pulse and excellent pulse-to-pulse stability. The latest model in the t-Pulse series delivers an unprecedented 200 nJ of energy, the highest value ever offered from a commercial femtosecond oscillator. Passive mode-locking: the saturable absorber High-intensity spikes (i.e., short pulses) see less loss and hence can lase while low-intensity backgrounds (i.e., long pulses) won’t. Passive mode-locking with a slow saturable absorber What if the absorber responds slowly (more slowly than the pulse)? Then only the leading edge will experience pulse shortening. This is the most common situation, unless the pulse is many ps long. Gain saturation shortens the pulse trailing edge. The intense spike uses up the laser gain-medium energy, reducing the gain available for the trailing edge of the pulse (and for later pulses). Saturable gain and loss The combination of saturable absorption and saturable gain yields short pulses even when the absorber is slower than the pulse. Lasers lase when the gain exceeds the loss. A dye’s energy levels Dyes are big molecules, and they have complex energy level structure. S0: Ground electronic state S1: 1st excited electronic state S2: 2nd excited electronic state Energy Laser Transition Lowest vibrational and rotational level of this electronic “manifold” Excited vibrational and rotational level Dyes can lase into any (or all!) of the vibrational/rotational levels of the S0 state, and so can lase very broadband. Pump Transition The Passively Mode-locked Dye Laser Passively mode-locked dye lasers yield pulses as short as a few hundred fs. They’re limited by our ability to saturate the absorber. Pump beam Gain medium Saturable absorber Some common dyes and their corresponding saturable absorbers A lens and a lens x A lens is a lens because the phase delay seen by a beam varies with x: