Jörg Körner

High-intensity, high-contrast laser pulses generated from the fully diode-pumped Yb:glass laser system POLARIS

We report on the first generation of high-contrast, 164 fs duration pulses from the laser system POLARIS reaching focused peak intensities in excess of 2×10(20) W/cm2. To our knowledge, this is the highest peak intensity reported so far that has been achieved with a diode-pumped, solid-state laser. Several passive contrast enhancement techniques have been specially developed and implemented, achieving a relative prepulse intensity smaller than 10(-8) at t=-30 ps before the main pulse. Furthermore a closed-loop adaptive-optics system has been installed. Together with angular chirp compensation, this method has led to a significant reduction of the focal spot size and an increase of the peak intensity.

16.6 J chirped femtosecond laser pulses from a diode-pumped Yb:CaF2 amplifier.

We report the amplification of laser pulses at a center wavelength of 1034 nm to an energy of 16.6 J from a fully diode-pumped amplifier using Yb:CaF2 as the active medium. Pumped by a total optical power of 300 kW from high-power laser diodes, a gain factor of g=6.1 was achieved in a nine-pass amplifier configuration agreeing with numerical simulations. A measured spectral bandwidth of 10 nm full width at half-maximum promises a bandwidth-limited compression of the pulses down to a duration of 150 fs. These are, to our knowledge, the most energetic laser pulses achieved from a diode-pumped chirped-pulse amplifier so far.

Magnesium aluminosilicate glasses as potential laser host material for ultrahigh power laser systems

Magnesium aluminosilicate glasses doped with 0.2 mol% Sm2O3 (1 × 1020 Sm3+ cm−3) have been prepared in a very broad compositional range. The effect of the MgO, Al2O3 and SiO2 concentrations as well as the effect of partial substitution of MgO by CaO, SrO, BaO, ZnO or MgF2 have been studied. Increasing the network modifier concentration results in decreasing the glass transformation temperature and increasing the coefficient of thermal expansion due to the formation of non-bridging oxygen sites and decreasing glass network connectivity. Although the network connectivity is changed substantially by the addition of network modifier oxides, the maximum phonon energy and the fluorescence lifetime of Sm3+ are not affected. Equimolar replacement of up to 9 mol% MgO by MgF2 results in increasing Sm3+ fluorescence lifetimes without increasing the coefficient of thermal expansion or decreasing the glass forming ability. Glasses with fairly small thermal expansion coefficients (≥3.2 × 10−6 K−1), low thermal stress values (≥0.5 MPa K−1), broad fluorescence emission peaks and fluorescence lifetimes in the range from 2.4 to 2.8 ms are obtained. Such glasses are interesting candidates for laser host materials in ultrahigh peak power laser systems.

Fluorescence and thermal stress properties of Yb3+-doped alumino silicate glasses for ultra high peak power laser applications

Various alumino silicate glasses (network modifier ions: Li+, Mg2+, Zn2+ and/or La3+) doped with 1 × 1020 Yb3+ cm−3 (about 0.2 mol% Yb2O3) were prepared. The glasses were studied with respect to their thermo-mechanical and fluorescence properties. Huge differences are found for the coefficients of thermal expansion which determine the thermal shock resistance of the material and hence are required for ultra-high power laser applications. Here, zinc and magnesium alumino silicate glasses show the lowest values. The fluorescence lifetimes of the glasses increase with decreasing average atomic weight of the glass composition (685–1020 µs). All glasses show broad and smooth emission spectra with little variations due to compositional changes.Mixed lithium zinc or lithium magnesium alumino silicate glasses could be promising new laser materials especially with respect to ultra-high peak power systems or applications with high repetition rates.

Structure and fluorescence properties of ternary aluminosilicate glasses doped with samarium and europium

Various ternary aluminosilicate glasses with the molar compositions 20 Al2O3–60 SiO2–20 R2O (R = Li or Na), 20 Al2O3–60 SiO2–20 RO (R = Mg, Ca or Zn) and 23.1 Al2O3–69.2 SiO2–7.7 R2O3 (R = Y or La) doped with 1 × 1020 Sm3+ cm−3 or 1 × 1020 Eu3+ cm−3 (about 0.2 mol% Sm2O3 or Eu2O3) were prepared. The glasses were studied with respect to their molecular structure, and their thermo-mechanical and fluorescence properties. All glasses show relatively broad fluorescence excitation and only a weak effect of the glass composition on the emission spectra is observed. Although the glasses should be structurally very similar, huge differences are found in the coefficients of thermal expansion and the glass transition temperatures. The fluorescence lifetime increases steadily with decreasing mean atomic weight and decreasing refractive index of the glasses, which may be explained by local field effects. The only exception from this rule is the zinc aluminosilicate glass, which shows a relatively high fluorescence lifetime. The highest fluorescence lifetime is found for the lithium aluminosilicate glass. The lowest coefficients of thermal expansion are found for zinc- and magnesium aluminosilicate glasses. A low coefficient of thermal expansion is a prerequisite for a high thermal shock resistance of the material and hence favorable for high-power laser applications.

The generation of amplified spontaneous emission in high‐power CPA laser systems

Abstract An analytical model is presented describing the temporal intensity contrast determined by amplified spontaneous emission in high‐intensity laser systems which are based on the principle of chirped pulse amplification. The model describes both the generation and the amplification of the amplified spontaneous emission for each type of laser amplifier. This model is applied to different solid state laser materials which can support the amplification of pulse durations ≤350 fs . The results are compared to intensity and fluence thresholds, e.g. determined by damage thresholds of a certain target material to be used in high‐intensity applications. This allows determining if additional means for contrast improvement, e.g. plasma mirrors, are required for a certain type of laser system and application. Using this model, the requirements for an optimized high‐contrast front‐end design are derived regarding the necessary contrast improvement and the amplified “clean” output energy for a desired focussed peak intensity. Finally, the model is compared to measurements at three different high‐intensity laser systems based on Ti:Sapphire and Yb:glass. These measurements show an excellent agreement with the model.

Efficient burst mode amplifier for ultra-short pulses based on cryogenically cooled Yb 3+ :CaF 2

We present a novel approach for the amplification of high peak power femtosecond laser pulses at a high repetition rate. This approach is based on an all-diode pumped burst mode laser scheme. In this scheme, pulse bursts with a total duration between 1 and 2 ms are be generated and amplified. They contain 50 to 2000 individual pulses equally spaced in time. The individual pulses have an initial duration of 350 fs and are stretched to 50 ps prior to amplification. The amplifier stage is based on Yb3+:CaF2 cooled to 100 K. In this amplifier, a total output energy in excess of 600 mJ per burst at a repetition rate of 10 Hz is demonstrated. For lower repetition rates the total output energy per burst can be scaled up to 915 mJ using a longer pump duration. This corresponds to an efficiency as high as 25% of extracted energy from absorbed pump energy. This is the highest efficiency, which has so far been demonstrated for a pulsed Yb3+:CaF2 amplifier.

Temperature dependent measurement of absorption and emission cross sections for various Yb 3+ doped laser materials

For laser performance simulations, optical properties of applied active materials have to be exactly known. Here we report on temperature dependent emission and absorption cross section measurements for Yb:YAG, Yb:CaF2 and Yb:FP15-glass. The temperature of the samples was aligned in steps of 20 K between 100 K and room temperature with a liquid nitrogen driven cryostat. Absorption spectra were obtained with a fiber coupled white light source and fluorescence spectra by excitation with a fiber coupled 10W laser diode at 970 nm. All spectral measurements were performed with a scanning spectrum analyzer, providing a spectral resolution down to 0.05 nm. By applying the McCumber relation in combination with the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg method, we were able to obtain a valid emission cross section over the whole range of interest from the measured data.

Effect of hydroxyl concentration on Yb 3+ luminescence properties in a peraluminous lithium-alumino-silicate glass

Ytterbium doped lithium-alumino-silicate glasses suitable for diode-pumped laser applications were investigated concerning the hydroxyl quenching of the Yb3+ fluorescence. Glasses of the nominal composition 18 mol% Li2O, 22 mol% Al2O3 and 60 mol% SiO2 with variable OH concentrations NOH (between 0.04 and 6.01 ∙ 1019 cm−3) and Yb3+ concentrations NYb (between 0.1 and 9 ∙ 1020 cm−3) were produced and a direct correlation between spontaneous emission decay rate and the product NYb ∙ NOH was observed. The radiative spontaneous emission rate in the glass host is around 1,000 s−1 (radiative lifetime 1.0 ms) and the microparameter for Yb-Yb energy migration, CYb-Yb, was found to be 1.358∙10−38 cm6 s−1. It was calculated that on average 17% of the OH groups in the glass contribute to the quenching of the Yb3+ fluorescence. By analysis of the UV edge of the glass it was concluded that melting under inert conditions leads to reduction of iron impurities to Fe2+, which can act as quenching sites for the Yb3+ ions and therefore may additionally reduce the energy storage capability of the laser material.

Investigation of Yb3+-doped alumino-silicate glasses for high energy class diode pumped solid state lasers

We present a detailed investigation of different compositions of Yb3+-doped alumino-silicate glasses as promising materials for diode-pumped high-power laser applications at 1030 nm due to their beneficial thermo-mechanical properties. To generate comprehensive datasets for emission and absorption cross sections, the spectral properties of the materials were recorded at temperatures ranging from liquid nitrogen to room temperature. It was found that the newly developed materials offer higher emission cross sections at the center laser wavelength of 1030 nm than the so far used alternatives Yb:CaF2 and Yb:FP-glass. This results in a lower saturation fluence that offers the potential for higher laser extraction efficiency. Fluorescence lifetime quenching of first test samples was analyzed and attributed to the hydroxide (OH) concentration in the host material. Applying a sophisticated glass manufacturing process, OH concentrations could be lowered by up to two orders of magnitude, rising the lifetime and the quantum efficiency for samples doped with more than 6.1020 Yb3+ -ions per cm³. First laser experiments showed a broad tuning range of about 60 nm, which is superior to Yb:CaF2 and Yb:FP-glass in the same setup. Furthermore, measurements of the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) for different coating techniques on doped substrates revealed the appropriateness of the materials for short pulse high-energy laser amplification.