Dominik Bauer

Subpicosecond thin-disk laser oscillator with pulse energies of up to 25.9 microjoules by use of an active multipass geometry

The pulse shaping dynamics of a diode-pumped laser oscillator with active multipass cell was studied experimentally and numerically. We demonstrate the generation of high energy subpicosecond pulses with a pulse energy of up to 25.9 microJ at a pulse duration of 928 fs directly from a thin-disk laser oscillator. These results are achieved by employing a selfimaging active multipass geometry operated in ambient atmosphere. Stable single pulse operation has been obtained with an average output power in excess of 76 W and at a repetition rate of 2.93 MHz. Self starting passive mode locking was accomplished using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The experimental results are compared with numerical simulations, showing good agreement including the appearance of Kelly sidebands. Furthermore, a modified soliton-area theorem for approximating the pulse duration is presented.

1.1 kW average output power from a thin-disk multipass amplifier for ultrashort laser pulses

We report on a thin-disk multipass amplifier for ultrashort laser pulses delivering an average output power of 1105 W. The amplifier was seeded by a Trumpf TruMicro5050 laser with a power of 80 W at a wavelength of 1030 nm, pulse duration of 6.5 ps, and repetition rate of 800 kHz. The energy of the amplified pulses is 1.38 mJ with a duration of 7.3 ps. The amplifier exhibits an optical efficiency of 44% and a slope efficiency of 46%. The beam quality was measured to be better than M²=1.25.

Mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator with 41 µJ pulse energy at 145 W average infrared power and high power frequency conversion

We demonstrate the generation of 1.1 ps pulses containing more than 41 µJ of energy directly out of an Yb:YAG thin-disk without any additional amplification stages. The laser oscillator operates in ambient atmosphere with a 3.5 MHz repetition rate and 145 W of average output power at a fundamental wavelength of 1030 nm. An average output power of 91.5 W at 515 nm was obtained by frequency doubling with a conversion efficiency exceeding 65%. Third harmonic generation resulted in 34 W at 343 nm at 34% efficiency.

Ultrafast thin-disk multipass laser amplifier delivering 1.4 kW (4.7 mJ, 1030 nm) average power converted to 820 W at 515 nm and 234 W at 343 nm

We report on an Yb:YAG thin-disk multipass laser amplifier delivering sub-8 ps pulses at a wavelength of 1030 nm with 1420 W of average output power and 4.7 mJ of pulse energy. The amplifier is seeded by a regenerative amplifier delivering 6.5 ps pulses with 300 kHz of repetition rate and an average power of 115 W. The optical efficiency of the multipass amplifier was measured to be 48% and the beam quality factor was better than M2 = 1.4. Furthermore we report on the external second harmonic generation from 1030 nm to 515 nm using an LBO crystal leading to an output power of 820 W with 2.7 mJ of energy per pulse. This corresponds to a conversion efficiency of 70%. Additionally, 234 W of average power were obtained at the third harmonic with a wavelength of 343 nm.

Energy scaling of Kerr-lens mode-locked thin-disk oscillators

Geometric scaling of a Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator yields femtosecond pulses with an average output power of 270 W. The scaled system delivers femtosecond (210-330 fs) pulses with a peak power of 38 MW. These values of average and peak power surpass the performance of any previously reported femtosecond laser oscillator operated in atmospheric air.

Recent disk laser development at Trumpf

This paper highlights the latest advances of disk laser technology at Trumpf. The disk laser combines unique properties, especially high output brilliance (at the lowest pump brilliance requirements of any high power platform), power scalability and broad applicability from cw to ps systems. In the new generation of cw disk lasers, 6kW are extracted from one disk in an industrial product at beam qualities suitable for welding. Moreover, scaling laser power to 10 kW per disk and resonators with higher brilliance are discussed. These advances are enabled by a combination of power scaling and increase of optical-to-optical efficiency. In addition, applications of the disk laser principle to pulsed operation, from ns to ps duration, at infrared and green wavelengths are discussed. Finally, an outlook on the capabilities of disk lasers towards highest cw power and ultra-high peak powers of petawatts and beyond is given.

Power-scaling of optically pumped semiconductor lasers

Power-scaling of optically pumped semiconductor lasers (OPSLs) using a resonator with multiple OPS chips is demonstrated. With a 3-chip cavity and intra-cavity second harmonic generation, we obtain 55W of TEM00 mode output at 532 nm and 66 W in multi-transverse mode. In addition, we describe the design of a periodic dynamically stable resonator that allows scaling to more than 4 chips and demonstrate that the output power scales with the number of chips in the cavity.

The broad applicability of the Disk Laser principle — from CW to ps

The quasi two-dimensional geometry of the disk laser results in conceptional advantages over other geometries. Fundamentally, the thin disk laser allows true power scaling by increasing the pump spot diameter on the disk while keeping the power density constant. This scaling procedure keeps optical peak intensity, temperature, stress profile, and optical path differences in the disk nearly unchanged. The required pump beam brightness - a main cost driver of DPSSL systems - also remains constant. We present these fundamental concepts and present results in the wide range of multi kW-class CW-sources, high power Q-switched sources and ultrashort pulsed sources.

Numerical analysis of a sub-picosecond thin-disk laser oscillator with active multipass geometry showing a variation of pulse duration within one round trip

The mode locking dynamics of a diode-pumped thin-disk laser oscillator with an active multipass cell operated in ambient atmosphere was studied numerically. The numerical results are compared to experimental results of a passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb:YAG laser with several megahertz repetition rate, sub-picosecond pulse duration, and >10 μJ pulse energy. The numerical simulations prove that the soliton area theorem predicts a correct pulse duration when considering an average pulse energy inside the oscillator. Furthermore, they show a variation in the full width at half-maximum pulse length for the pulse that propagates within the oscillator. This oscillation shows a behavior that is contrary to a change in the pulse length given by the soliton area theorem when considering the real pulse energies at respective points in the resonator. The “breathing” is caused by the strong influence of the self-phase modulation of the ambient atmosphere and large amounts of dispersion resulting in a deviation from the sech2 pulse shape and a chirped pulse.

Recent development of disk lasers at TRUMPF

The disk laser is one of the most important laser concepts for today’s industrial laser market. Offering high brilliance at low cost, high optical efficiency and great application flexibility the disk laser paved the way for many industrial laser applications. Over the past years power and brightness increased and the disk laser turned out to be a very versatile laser source, not only for welding but also for cutting. Both, the quality and speed of cutting are superior to CO2-based lasers for a vast majority of metals, and, most important, in a broad thickness range. In addition, due to the insensitivity against back reflections the disk laser is well suited for cutting highly reflective metal such as brass or copper. These advantages facilitate versatile cutting machines and explain the high and growing demand for disk lasers for applications besides welding applications that can be observed today. From a today’s perspective the disk principle has not reached any fundamental limits regarding output power per disk or beam quality, and offers numerous advantages over other high power resonator concepts, especially over fiber lasers or direct diode lasers. This paper will give insight in the latest progress in kilowatt class cw disk laser technology at TRUMPF and will discuss recent power scaling results as well.