Dirk Lorenser

50-GHz passively mode-locked surface-emitting semiconductor laser with 100-mW average output power

We have developed a passively mode-locked optically-pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser (VECSEL) which delivers up to 100 mW of average output power at a repetition rate of 50 GHz in nearly transform-limited 3.3-ps pulses at a wavelength around 960 nm. The high-repetition-rate passive mode locking was achieved with a low-saturation-fluence semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) incorporating a single layer of quantum-dots. The output power within a nearly diffraction-limited beam was maximized using a gain structure with a low thermal impedance soldered to a diamond heat spreader. In addition, we systematically optimized the laser resonator to accommodate for the strong thermal lens caused by the optical pumping. We measured the thermal lens dioptric power and present a numerical model which is in good agreement with the measurements and is useful for optimizing resonator designs. The experimental setup is very versatile and its design and construction are discussed in detail

High-performance mode-locking with up to 50 GHz repetition rate from integrable VECSELs

We present passively mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers in a 1:1 mode ratio configuration, achieving record repetition rates of 30-50 GHz, average output powers up to 177 mW, and pulse widths as short as 2.1 ps.

Passively Mode-Locked Surface-Emitting Semiconductor Lasers with High Repetition Rates of up to 30 GHz

We present high-repetition-rate passively mode-locked vertical external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers with average output powers of 1.4 W in 6.1-ps pulses at 10 GHz and 25 mW in 4.7-ps pulses at 30 GHz.