title: In situ characterization of semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors in an operating Yb:KGW mode-locked laser.
abstract: We report in situ characterization of a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in an operating Yb:KGW mode-locked laser. The technique may be described as a pump-probe experiment in which the intracavity beam acts as a pump beam while the output of the same laser is used as a test beam for the SESAM reflectivity. At zero delay, the probe pulse overlaps in time with the subsequent intracavity pulse. The method is an alternative to standard pump-probe measurements in situations where the intracavity parameters such as energy fluence onto the SESAM, pulse length, and center wavelength cannot be achieved simultaneously with available lasers.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Optik und Quantenelektronik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany. paunescu@ioq.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paunescu
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sauerbrey
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Richter