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Special Issue "Ultrafast Laser Systems"

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A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2023 | Viewed by 4637

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jiangfeng Zhu

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Guest Editor

School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China
Interests: solid-state lasers; femtosecond lasers; laser amplification; nonlinear frequency conversion; laser micro-fabrication

Prof. Dr. Jinwei Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: thin-disk lasers; mode-locked lasers; high-power lasers; mid-infrared lasers

Dr. Qing Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: mid-infrared lasers; mode-locked lasers; ultrafast nonlinear optics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, ultrafast lasers have been studied intensively and have become indispensable tools for diverse applications in physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, and industry. Now, the pulse duration of ultrafast laser systems has been shortened from the traditional picosecond and femtosecond range down to the attosecond level; the peak power has reached 10 PW based on chirped-pulse amplification technology; and the spectrum can cover wavelengths from extreme ultraviolet to terahertz. These achievements enrich the understanding of scientists in regard to the principles of ultrafast laser, while paving the way for the invention of new technologies in many fields. However, the development of ultrafast lasers is far from an end, as properties such as a higher average power and pulse energy, shorter pulse duration, broader spectrum bandwidth, new wavelengths, higher stability and compact size are becoming more and more desirable.

This Special Issue focuses on the latest progress in the development of ultrafast laser systems. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Mode-locking technique;
Femtosecond solid-state lasers;
Femtosecond fiber lasers;
Ultrafast laser amplifiers;
Ultrafast nonlinear techniques;
Ultrafast EUV/MIR/THz techniques;
Attosecond laser technologies;
Frequency combs;
Ultrafast laser materials;
Ultrafast laser applications.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jiangfeng Zhu
Prof. Dr. Jinwei Zhang
Dr. Qing Wang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

femtosecond laser
mode-locked laser
laser amplifier
attosecond
nonlinear frequency conversion
ultrafast dynamics
novel laser material

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessCommunication

All-Polarization-Maintaining, Mode-Locking Fiber Front-End Laser Delivering Both the Picosecond Seed Laser and the Femtosecond Seed Laser

and

Photonics 2023, 10(6), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10060665 - 08 Jun 2023

Viewed by 144

Abstract

An ytterbium-doped, mode-locking fiber front-end laser, delivering both a femtosecond seed laser and picosecond seed laser, was demonstrated. The fundamental repetition rate of the 1031 nm mode-locked laser was 32.77 MHz, realized with the all-polarization-maintaining (all-PM) nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM). The femtosecond seed laser and the picosecond seed laser were delivered after carefully optimizing the nonlinear amplification process. The corresponding pulse durations were 85 fs and 2.88 ps, with average power of 171 mW and 562.5 mW, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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Open AccessCommunication

High–Efficiency, Widely Tunable MgO: PPLN Optical Parametric Oscillator

and

Photonics 2023, 10(5), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10050505 - 27 Apr 2023

Viewed by 522

Abstract

We report on the investigation of a high–efficiency, widely tunable femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a multi–period MgO–doped periodically poled lithium niobite (MgO: PPLN) crystal, pumped by an all–solid–state femtosecond mode–locked Yb: KGW laser at 1030 nm providing 100 fs pulses. With 6 W pump power, the OPO generates 2.68 W of signal power at 1540 nm and 1.2 W of idler power at 3110 nm, which corresponds to the total conversion efficiency adding up to 67.4%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest conversion efficiency of a femtosecond OPO. Meanwhile, in order to obtain a broad optical spectrum range, both the grating period and working temperature are tuned, resulting in tunable signals of 1.43–1.78 µm and idlers of 2.44–3.68 µm. This source will be used to generate a femtosecond mid–infrared laser of wavelength range 3.7–6.5 µm and tens milliwatts average power through difference frequency generation (DFG). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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Open AccessArticle

Dynamics of the Femtosecond Mid-IR Laser Pulse Impact on a Bulk Silicon

Evgenii Mareev

Nikolay Obydennov

and

Fedor Potemkin

Photonics 2023, 10(4), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10040380 - 30 Mar 2023

Viewed by 628

Abstract

In this study, we reconstructed the dynamics of the impact of mid-IR-range (4.6 μm) femtosecond laser pulses on bulk silicon under tight focusing conditions (NA = 0.5). Our experimental results show that under this impact, the deposited energy density (DED) reaches approximately 4 kJ/cm³ (at an energy slightly above the plasma-formation threshold). Initially, the femtosecond pulse energy is absorbed by the laser-induced plasma, with a lifetime of approximately 160–320 fs (depending on the laser pulse energy). The energy transfer from the plasma to the atomic subsystem occurs on a sub-ps timescale, which generates a shock wave and excites coherent phonons on a sub-ps scale. The shift of atoms in the lattice at the front of the shock wave results in a cascade of phase transitions (Si-X => Si-VII => Si-VI => Si-XI => Si-II), leading to a change in the phonon spectra of silicon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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Open AccessCommunication

Inverse Saturable Absorption Mechanism in Mode-Locked Fiber Lasers with a Nonlinear Amplifying Loop Mirror

and

Photonics 2023, 10(3), 261; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10030261 - 01 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1076

Abstract

From the perspective of the differential phase delay experienced by the two counterpropagating optical fields, the self-starting of the mode-locked fiber laser with a non-linear amplifying loop mirror (NALM) is theoretically studied. Although it is generally believed that NALM shows a saturable absorption effect on both continuous wave (CW) light and pulses, we find a counter-intuitive fact that cross-phase modulation (XPM) leads to opposite signs of differential non-linear phase shifts (NPSs) in these two cases, resulting in inverse saturable absorption (ISA) during the pulse formation process. The ISA is not helpful for the self-starting of laser mode-locking and can be alleviated by introducing a non-reciprocal phase shifter into the fiber loop. These results are helpful for optimizing the design of NALM and lowering the self-starting threshold of the high-repetition-rate mode-locked fiber laser. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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Open AccessCommunication

Generation of 48 fs, 1 GHz Fundamentally Mode-Locked Pulses Directly from an Yb-doped “Solid-State Fiber Laser”

and

Photonics 2023, 10(2), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10020192 - 11 Feb 2023

Viewed by 867

Abstract

We demonstrate a fundamentally mode-locked Yb-doped “solid-state fiber laser” with a repetition rate of 1 GHz and a pulse duration of 48 fs. The nonlinear-polarization-evolution (NPE) mode-locking of the “solid-state fiber laser” enables up to 286 mW of average power and a 26 nm spectrum bandwidth, which supports a 48 fs pulse duration. The laser self-starts and the central wavelength can be tuned from 1032.4 nm to 1035.6 nm. To the best of our knowledge, it is the shortest pulse duration directly obtained by GHz fundamentally mode-locked Yb-fiber lasers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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Open AccessArticle

Observation of Wavelength Tuning in a Mode-Locked Figure-9 Fiber Laser

and

Photonics 2023, 10(2), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10020184 - 08 Feb 2023

Viewed by 974

Abstract

We demonstrate an all-PM Er-doped soliton mode-locked fiber oscillator based on the figure-9 configuration with a compact adjustable reflection-type non-reciprocal phase shifter. An analytical model based on the Jones matrix is established to simulate the wavelength tuning phenomenon. Experimentally, it is observed that the increase in pump power results in a significant redshift in the spectrum of output pulses. When the angle of the half-wave plate is rotated in one direction, the output spectrum is redshifted and then blueshifted successively. Good qualitative agreement is presented between the simulations and the experimental results. It is shown that the increase in pump power changes the nonlinear phase shift, which causes the redshift of the transmittance curves at the laser output port. In contrast, the rotation of wave plates not only changes the nonlinear phase shift difference, but also causes variations in linear phase bias and modulation depth. The changes in these parameters lead to the redshift and blueshift of the transmission curves, which enables wavelength tuning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrafast Laser Systems)

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