We report what is believed to be the first demonstration of a high-power passively mode-locked diode-pumped femtosecond laser based on an Yb3+:CaF2 single crystal, directly pumped by a 15-W fiber-coupled laser diode. With a 5-at. % Yb3+ -doped sample and prisms for dispersion compensation we obtained pulses as short as 150 fs, with 880 mW of average power and up to 1.4-W average output power, w...

We demonstrate a high-power, continuous-wave (cw), single-frequency green source based on single-pass second-harmonic generation of a Yb-fiber laser in MgO:sPPLT as a viable pump source for a cw single-frequency Ti:sapphire ring laser. By careful design and optimization, the Ti:sapphire laser can provide as much as 2.3 W of cw single-frequency output across a 47 nm tuning range, limited by the ...

High-power high-brightness unstable-resonator edge-emitting semiconductor laser diodes with dry-etched curved mirrors were fabricated and characterized. The epitaxial structure was optimized for high output power operation and consists of a GaAs/AlGaAs gradedindex separate-confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) with a single 980-nm-emitting InGaAs quantum well. The curved mirrors of the unstable...

2D quasistatic (point-to-point) gimbal-less MEMS mirrors enable programmable, arbitrary control of laser beam position and velocity up to their maximum limits. Hence, they provide the ability to track targets, point lasercom beams, and to scan uniform velocity lines over objects in laser imaging. They are becoming increasingly established in applications including 3D scanning, laser marking and...

Femtosecond laser pulses have high impact on the state-of-the-art modern developed technologies and its applications. Generation of high power femtosecond pulses with short pulse durations with a stable profile represent a challenge due to many experimental difficulties. In this work, a table top source of ultrashort laser pulses high energy femtosecond laser system is demonstrated. After optim...

The grazing incidence metal mirror is a promising option for the final optic in a laser-driven inertial fusion energy power plant. It has been pursued as an alternative to multi-layer dielectric mirrors based on expectations of higher radiation damage resistance. Aluminum offers high reflectivity over a broad range of wavelengths extending deep into the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, and thu...

LLE Review, Volume 127 113 Beam-shaping applications in high-power laser systems have been presented in many different contexts such as the improvement of laser performance1 or the manipulation of laser–target interactions.2,3 These applications commonly employ static apodizers or deformable mirrors. Spatial-light modulators (SLM’s) are also popular beam-shaping devices. Because of their low da...