title: Broad emission band of Yb3+ in the nonlinear Nb:RbTiOPO4 crystal: origin and applications.
abstract: By means of micro-structural and optical characterization of the Yb:Nb:RbTiOPO(4) crystal, we demonstrated that the broad emission band of Yb(3+) in these crystals is due to the large splitting of the ytterbium ground state only, and not to a complex multisite occupation by the ytterbium ions in the crystals. We used this broad emission band to demonstrate wide laser tuning range and generation of femtosecond laser pulses. Passive mode-locked laser operation has been realized by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, generating ultra short laser pulses of 155 fs, which were very stable in time, under Ti:sapphire laser pumping at 1053 nm.
authors.affiliation: Física i Cristal.lografia de Materials i Nanomaterials (FiCMA-FiCNA), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Campus Sescelades E-43007 Tarragona, Spain. joanjosep.carvajal@urv.cat
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Carvajal
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciatto
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mateos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Griebner
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Petrov
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boulon
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brenier
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguiló
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Díaz