Abstract
In recent years, quantum-dot (QD) mode-locked semiconductors lasers have shown great potential as ultrashort pulse laser sources [1]. For instance, the generation of ultrashort transform-limited pulses with pulse durations of 360 fs has been previously demonstrated in tapered index-guided mode-locked quantum-dot lasers without any dispersion compensation - however, peak power reached only 2.25 W, for a typical average power of 15.6 mW [2]. In our recent work, we have shown that output average/peak power and pulse energy can be greatly increased using a tapered (or flared) gain-guided structure [3]. In [3], two-section devices incorporating 5 or 10 QD layers with a total length of ~2.78mm were used, resulting in pulse repetition rates of the order of 14.6 GHz. With an absorber-to-gain lengths ratio of 1:7, the highest peak power achieved was 3.6W from both QD structures. On the other hand, a maximum average power of 209 mW corresponding to 14.2 pJ pulse energy with 6-ps pulse duration was achieved for the 5-layer QD laser. The generation of high-peak-power pulses is vital for a variety of applications such as biomedical nonlinear microscopy and imaging, where a combination of high peak power and average power (up to the limit tolerable by the bio-sample) are most effective in enhancing the nonlinear effects required. In this paper, we report the highest peak power (to our knowledge) of 15 W directly from a monolithic quantum-dot tapered laser, with sub-picosecond pulse width.
© 2011 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
L. Drzewietzki, M. Ruiz, S. Breuer, M. Tran, Y. Robert, M. Rossetti, T. Xu, P. Bardella, W. Elsäßer, M. Krakowski, I. Montrosset, and I. Krestnikov
CB3_3 The European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO/Europe) 2011
Lukas Drzewietzki, Stefan Breuer, Wolfgang Elsäßer, Michel Krakowski, and Igor Krestnikov
CB_P3 The European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO/Europe) 2011
L. Drzewietzki, S. Breuer, M. Rossetti, T. Xu, P. Bardella, H. Simos, C. Mesaritakis, M. Ruiz, I. Krestnikov, D. Livshits, M. Krakowski, D. Syvridis, I. Montrosset, E. U. Rafailov, and W. Elsäßer
CB_4_2 The European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO/Europe) 2013