Cryogenically-Cooled Yb∶YGAG Ceramic Picosecond Oscillator

摘要

In this work, a passively mode-locked Yb∶YGAG (Yb∶Y_3Ga2Al_3O_(12)) ceramic laser generating picosecond pulses at liquid-nitrogen temperature is demonstrated. The Yb∶YGAG has a similar structure to Yb:YAG, but its emission bandwidth at cryogenic temperature remains much broader, which is advantageous for ultrashort pulse generation and amplification. Using this laser material, a stable train of pulses at a wavelength of 1026 nm was obtained, with measured pulse duration of 2.4 ps, which is more than four times shorter than that achieved with a cryogenically-cooled Yb∶YAG.