Chirped-pulse oscillators: a route to high-power femtosecond pulses without external amplification.
We demonstrate a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator that generates 130-nJ, 26-fs and 220-nJ, 30-fs pulses at a repetition rate of 11 MHz. The generation of stable broadband, high-energy pulses from an extended-cavity oscillator is achieved by the use of chirped multilayer mirrors to produce a small net positive dispersion over a broad spectral range. The resultant chirped picosecond pulses are compressed by a dispersive delay line that is external to the laser cavity. The demonstrated peak powers, in excess of 5 MW, are to our knowledge the highest ever achieved from a cw-pumped laser and are expected to be scalable to tens of megawatts by an increase in the pump power and (or) a decrease in the repetition rate. The demonstrated source permits micromachining of any materials under relaxed focusing conditions.
Fernandez
A
A
Photonics Institute, Christian Doppler Laboratory, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27, A-1040 Vienna, Austria.
Fuji
T
T
Poppe
A
A
Fürbach
A
A
Krausz
F
F
Apolonski
A
A