Zakaria Mihoubi

Ultrafast optical Stark mode-locked semiconductor laser

We report on 260 fs transform-limited pulses generated directly by an optical Stark passively mode-locked semiconductor disk laser at a 1 GHz repetition rate. A surface recombination semiconductor saturable absorber mirror and a step-index gain structure are used. Numerical propagation modeling of the optical Stark effect confirms that this mechanism is able to form the pulses that we observe.

All-semiconductor room-temperature terahertz time domain spectrometer

We report what we believe to be the first demonstration of an all-semiconductor room-temperature terahertz time domain spectrometer. An optical Stark mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser with 480 fs pulses at 1044 nm was used to illuminate low-temperature-grown photoconductive antennae with 5 mum-gap bow-tie-shaped electrodes. The coherently detected spectrum has a bandwidth close to 1 THz, in which water absorption lines at 0.555 and 0.751 THz can be resolved.

High-Repetition-Rate Subpicosecond Source of Fiber-Amplified Vertical-External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Semiconductor Laser Pulses

We report a 6-GHz fundamental repetition-rate source of 545-fs pulses with 1.5-W average power at 1042.6 nm, based on ytterbium-doped fiber amplification of a Stark mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser.

169 GHz repetition rate passively harmonically mode-locked VECSEL emitting 265 fs pulses

High repetition rate passively mode-locked sources are of significant interest due to their potential for applications including optical clocking, optical sampling, communications and others. Due to their short excited state lifetimes mode-locked VECSELs are ideally suited to high repetition rate operation, however fundamentally mode-locked quantum well-based VECSELs have not achieved repetition rates above 10 GHz due to the limitations placed on the cavity geometry by the requirement that the saturable absorber saturates more quickly than the gain. This issue has been overcome by the use of quantum dot-based saturable absorbers with lower saturation fluences leading to repetition rates up to 50 GHz, but sub-picosecond pulses have not been achieved at these repetition rates. We present a passively harmonically mode-locked VECSEL emitting pulses of 265 fs duration at a repetition rate of 169 GHz with an output power of 20 mW. The laser is based around an antiresonant 6 quantum well gain sample and is mode-locked using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Harmonic modelocking is achieved by using an intracavity sapphire etalon. The sapphire then acts as a coupled cavity, setting the repetition rate of the laser while still allowing a tight focus on the saturable absorber. RF spectra of the laser output show no peaks at harmonics of the fundamental repetition rate up to 26 GHz, indicating stable harmonic modelocking. Autocorrelations reveal groups of pulses circulating in the cavity as a result of an increased tendency towards Q-switched modelocking due to the low pulse energies.

Numerical model of the optical stark effect as a mode-locking mechanism for femtosecond vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

A pulse is shortened by repeated transits of a quantum well absorber in which the band-edge is detuned to higher energy. The calculated effect is consistent with the experimentally observed formation of 448-fs transform-limited pulses.

Numerical simulation of optical Stark effect saturable absorbers in mode-locked femtosecond VECSELs using a modified two-level atom model.

The interaction of an optical pulse with a quantum well saturable absorber is simulated using a semi-classical two-level-atom model which has been modified to approximate spectral hole burning in the carrier distribution. Saturable absorption behaviour is examined in the limit where pulse duration approaches the carrier-carrier scattering time. For long pulses bleaching dominates the absorber response but as the pulse duration approaches the carrier-carrier scattering timescale an additional pulse shaping mechanism becomes active, allowing the absorber to continue to shorten pulses beyond the limit set by bleaching. Examination of the spectral and temporal absorption profiles suggests that intense pulses experience additional pulse shortening from the optical Stark effect.

Mode-locking build-up measurements: probing the mode-locking-mechanisms in vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The pulse evolution from onset to steady state in a mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser producing femtosecond and picosecond pulses was studied. A 40-times reduction in pulse shortening rate from picosecond to femtosecond regime was observed.

70-fs Transform-Limited Pulses Emitted by InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Well Laser

We observe near-transform-limited 70-fs pulses, stable over ~1010round trips, and stable 260-fs transform-limited pulse trains from an optical Stark mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting InGaAs/GaAs quantum well laser operating at 1040 nm.

Simulation of metallic nanostructures for emission of THz radiation using the lateral photo-Dember effect

A 2D simulation for the lateral photo-Dember effect is used to calculate the THz emission of metallic nanostructures due to diffusion currents in order to realize a series of THz emitters.

High peak power femtosecond pulse VECSELs for terahertz time domain spectroscopy

We report on a high peak power femtosecond modelocked VECSEL and its application as a drive laser for an all semiconductor terahertz time domain spectrometer. The VECSEL produced near-transform-limited 335 fs sech2 pulses at a fundamental repetition rate of 1 GHz, a centre wavelength of 999 nm and an average output power of 120 mW. We report on the effect that this high peak power and short pulse duration has on our generated THz signal.