Berthold Schmidt

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO/sub 4/ lasers with 40-GHz repetition rate

We present two different diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO/sub 4/ lasers with a repetition rate of 40 GHz. This is the highest repetition rate demonstrated so far with diode-pumped 1-/spl mu/m solid-state lasers. The first laser design allows short pulses of 2.7-ps duration whereas the second laser design is optimized for high average output power of up to 288 mW. We compare both design approaches and show that there is a tradeoff between output power and pulse duration.

Further development of high-power pump laser diodes

AlGaAs/InGaAs based high power pump laser diodes with wavelength of around 980 nm are key products within erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) for todays long haul and metro-communication networks, whereas InGaAsP/InP based laser diodes with 14xx nm emission wavelength are relevant for advanced, but not yet widely-used Raman amplifiers. Due to the changing industrial environment cost reduction becomes a crucial factor in the development of new, pump modules. Therefore, pump laser chips were aggressively optimized in terms of power conversion and thermal stability, which allows operation without active cooling at temperatures exceeding 70°C. In addition our submarine-reliable single mode technology was extended to high power multi-mode laser diodes. These light sources can be used in the field of optical amplifiers as well as for medical, printing and industrial applications. Improvements of pump laser diodes in terms of power conversion efficiency, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) locking performance of single mode devices, noise reduction and reliability will be presented.

Design and realization of a buried-heterostructure tunable-twin-guide laser diode with electrical blocking regions

An InGaAsP-InP buried-heterostructure tunable-twin-guide (TTG) laser diode is presented, incorporating epitaxially regrown p-n-p-n current blocking regions to minimize current leakage around the active region in the ridge. The laser design is based on a theoretical model describing the mechanism of current leakage and the influence of electrical blocking regions by a two-dimensional computer simulation. The technological realization of the laser device reveals a way to achieve a self-aligned transverse blocking region and a lateral ridge contact in any desired depth by a two-stage epitaxial process. Completely processed TTG laser diodes with buried blocking regions exhibit very good high-temperature performance and a wavelength tuning range of around 4.5 nm under forward bias together with a maximum light output of as much as 25 mW at room temperature.

9xx high-power broad-area laser diodes

In this communication we report on the performance characteristics of Bookham’s latest generation of 915-990 nm broad area single emitter (BASE) laser diodes with around 90 μm wide aperture. Representative high power devices in the wavelength range of 950-960 nm, mounted p-side down onto expansion matched assemblies using our highly reliable AuSn-solder technology, reveal a high slope efficiency of around 1.05 W/A during CW operation at 25°C heat sink temperature. Coupling efficiency into multi-mode fiber with 0.15 or 0.22 numerical aperture exceeds 93% mainly due to the low vertical divergence of the laser beam. In addition, low laser threshold and series resistance enable more than 62% maximum wall plug efficiency of the present generation of the laser diodes. Preliminary tests of new prototypes reveal already excellent performance characteristics of the next generation device with up to 19.9 W light output power in pulsed operation and 16 W for thermally limited CW operation.

Passively mode-locked 1.3-/spl mu/m multi-GHz Nd:YVO/sub 4/ lasers with low timing jitter

We demonstrate diode-pumped passively mode-locked 1.34-/spl mu/m Nd:YVO/sub 4/ lasers with repetition rates of 5 and 10GHz. Passive mode locking is achieved by using a novel GaInNAs-based saturable absorber mirror. Phase noise measurements prove the low timing jitter that can be obtained with this kind of lasers.

Optical parametric oscillator with a pulse repetition rate of 39 GHz and 2.1-W signal average output power in the spectral region near 1.5 µm

We present a singly resonant, synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator with a record-high repetition rate of 39 GHz. The transform-limited 2.2-ps pulses at 1570 nm have as much as 2.1-W average output power. The all-solid-state pump source is based on a diode-pumped passively mode-locked 39-GHz Nd:YVO4 laser and an efficient ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier.

Flash imaging in dual source CT (DSCT)

We present new acquisition modes of a recently introduced dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) system equipped with two X-ray tubes and two corresponding detectors, mounted onto the rotating gantry with an angular offset of typically 90°. Due to the simultaneous acquisition of complementary data, the minimum exposure time is reduced by a factor of two compared to a single-source CT system (SSCT). The correspondingly improved temporal resolution is beneficial for cardiac CT. Also, maximum table feed per rotation in a spiral mode can be increased by a factor of 2 compared to SSCT, which provides benefits both for cardiac CT and non-cardiac CT. In an ECG-triggered mode the entire cardiac volume can be scanned within a fraction of one cardiac RR-cycle. At a rotation time of 0.28s using a detector with 64×0.6 mm beam collimation, the scan time of the entire heart is less than 0.3s at a temporal resolution of 75 ms. It will be shown, that the extremely fast cardiac scan reduces the patient dose to a theoretical lowest limit: for a 120 kV scan the dose level for a typical cardiac CT scan is well below 2 mSv. Using further protocol optimization (scan range adaptation, 100kV), the radiation dose can be reduced below 1mSv.

Broad area single emitter (BASE) modules with improved brightness

High power pump modules are used for industrial as well as telecom applications such as for fiber lasers and cladding pumped erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) [Lichtenstein, N., et al., 2004]. Key element of a pump module is a single emitter laser diode, which normally has an aperture of around 90 mum, in order to provide best coupling into an optical multi-mode fiber with a 105 mum core diameter. Increasing the brightness of the pump module lends additional flexibility in the design of fiber lasers and amplifiers and enables higher output power. In this communication we report on two approaches to increase the brightness of our latest generation of high power pump modules. Within the first approach the electro-optical performance of the single emitter laser diode is improved by optimizing Bookhams mature chip technologies such as InGaAs/AlGaAs structures grown by MBE, the ridge-waveguide manufacturing process, the E2 facet passivation and the mounting technology. The combination of improved chip design and new coupling scheme leads to reliable broad area modules with outstanding brightness.

High-brightness 9xx and 14xx single-mode emitter array laser bars

In this communication we report on the successful realization of Single-mode Emitter Array Laser (SEAL) bars. Various laser bars with a cavity length of 2.4 mm containing between 25 to 350 narrow stripe lateral single-mode emitters have been realized and mounted epi-side down onto expansion matched heatsinks using a stable AuSn-solder technology. Optical power in excess of 1 W per emitter has been obtained resulting in more than 200 W total output power for the highest emitter density. While these total power levels are comparable to conventional broad-area laser bars (BALB), the brightness of each of the emitters is drastically improved over the BALB approach making theses bars ideal candidates for beam-shaping concepts. Lateral farfield measurements with smooth gaussian patterns, high electro-optical conversion efficiency well above 60% and threshold currents as low as 0.5 A are presented. Similar devices realized from the InGaAsP/InP material system deliver in excess of 20 W from 100 NS emitters at wavelengths around 1480 nm.

A compact, narrow-band, and low-noise 800-mW laser source at 980 nm

We report on the development of a new cost-effective, small form-factor laser source at a wavelength of 980 nm. The laser module is based on proven technology commonly used for pump laser modules deployed in fiber amplifiers of telecommunication networks. The package uses a state-of-the-art 14-pin butterfly housing with a footprint of 30x15 mm2 with a Fabry-Perot AlGaAs-InGaAs pump laser diode mounted inside having an anti-reflection coating on its front facet. The light is coupled into a single-mode polarization-maintaining fiber with a mode-field diameter of 6.6 micrometer. The spectral properties of the source are defined by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) that provides feedback in a narrow reflection band. The laser back facet and the FBG form a long resonant cavity of 1.7 m length in which laser light with a low coherence length of a few cm is generated. This configuration with the laser being operated in the coherence-collapse regime has the advantage of being robust against variations in the optical path, thus enabling stable and mode-hop free emission. The laser module has the following properties: a continuous-wave fiber output power exceeding 800 mW, a spectral bandwidth of less than 50 pm, a root-mean square power variation of less than 0.2 % from DC to 2 MHz over the entire power operating range, and a polarization extinction ratio of more than 20 dB. This is a compact, low noise, high power source for frequency conversion with nonlinear optical materials, such as blue light generation.