Ultrashort pulse laser system and method for creating femtosecond or picosecond pulses

Abstract

The present invention provides an ultrashort pulse laser system and a method for creating femtosecond or picosecond pulses. The system has a reinforced laser medium (4) for generating a laser emission (AS), and a laser resonator with at least one resonator mirror (3, 5, 6, 7, 8) and a pump source (1), the system also has a gas filled section (9), which is filled with a filling gas from an individual gas or mixture of filling gases. A nonlinear refractive index n2 of the gas filled section corresponds to the air. The filling gas exhibits a rotation-raman effect that is smaller than the air.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an ultrashort pulse laser system for generating femtosecond or picosecond pulses and a method for generating femtosecond or picosecond pulses in such an ultrashort pulse laser system. Background technique [0002] Ultrashort pulse laser systems (ie, laser devices capable of generating laser pulses with characteristic pulse durations in the femtosecond or picosecond range) have long been known in various embodiments from the prior art. However, operations have historically been achieved under atmospheric conditions, and the associated limitations on operating parameters are becoming more and more apparent. Several scientific works have recently been published on ultrashort pulse laser resonators, where air is considered to be an important and at the same time limiting variable. Here, the nonlinear refractive index n of air 2 considered problematic, so attempts were made to minimize this effect. [0003] Thus, for exam...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

More complex setups are disadvantageous here due to the subsequent external compression of the pulses required and the problem that picosecond lasers are more difficult to stabilize with respect to instabilities

Also, so far, the powers and pulse lengths actually obtained are not significantly better than what can be obtained with soliton mode-locking in comparable lasers

[0008] The latter two solutions are therefore based on more complex or expensive technical installations and are in principle also limited in terms of available power

Use an evacuated cavity region or have a nonlinear refractive index n different from that of air 2 The problem with the filling gas is that in the case of pressure changes or mixing with air, it will produce a shift of the laser operating point

Exactly, in terms of robust long-term operation, correspondingly durable seals are almost impossible to achieve

Images