title: Femtosecond pulses at 50-W average power from an Yb:YAG planar waveguide amplifier seeded by an Yb:KYW oscillator.
abstract: We report the demonstration of a high-power single-side-pumped Yb:YAG planar waveguide amplifier seeded by an Yb:KYW femtosecond laser. Five passes through the amplifier yielded 700-fs pulses with average powers of 50 W at 1030 nm. A numerical simulation of the amplifier implied values for the laser transition saturation intensity, the small-signal intensity gain coefficient and the gain bandwidth of 10.0 kW cm(-2), 1.6 cm(-1), and 3.7 nm respectively, and identified gain-narrowing as the dominant pulse-shaping mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Leburn
authors.forename: Cristtel Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Corral
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: Denis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Derryck T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Reid