Mode-locked solid-state laser apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to a mode-locked solid-state laser apparatus having a resonator which includes a solid-state laser medium, a saturable absorption mirror, and a negative group dispersion element therein, in which the solid-state laser medium and the saturable absorption mirror are disposed at a distance not greater than twice a Rayleigh length which is determined by the beam radius of oscillation light formed at the saturable absorption mirror. The apparatus further includes a dichroic mirror in the resonator that reflects excitation light inputted from a direction crossing the optical axis of the resonator toward the solid-state laser medium and transmits oscillation light.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a solid-state laser device, and more particularly to a miniaturized soliton-type mode-synchronized solid-state laser device capable of short-pulse operation. Background technique [0002] The solid-state laser devices developed in the past use semiconductor lasers (LD) as excitation light sources, and use solid-state laser media (laser crystals, ceramics, glass) added with rare earth ions or transition metal ions. Among them, short-pulse laser devices that generate so-called short-pulse light in the picosecond to femtosecond region have been researched and advocated in many application fields such as medical treatment, biology, machinery industry, and measurement, and after actual verification, some of them have been put into practical use. . [0003] This laser device produces short pulses through an action known as mode synchronization. Briefly, the so-called mode synchronization refers to a phenomenon in which the ...

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Problems solved by technology

In general, it is difficult to operate stably when a resonator on the order of meters is incorporated in a solid-state laser, so the stability of the laser oscillation operation of the conventional device is low

[0029] And, in order to reduce the excitation beam radius ω in the solid-state laser medium P , the laser output from an excitation light source such as an LD is fully confined and incident on a solid-state laser medium. For this purpose, a complex excitation optical system combining multiple lenses is installed, and the excitation optical system is also easy to increase.

[0030] In Patent Documents 1 and 2, examples are described in which resonators are arranged linearly to achieve miniaturization, but the excitation light is input through a concave mirror as in the above examples, and the excitation optical system cannot be sufficiently miniaturized.

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