Research On Yb:KGW Pulsed Laser And Multi-wavelength Optical Parametric Oscillator

In recent years, with the development of the laser diode (LD).solid-state lasersare developing towards high efficiency, high power, integration and miniaturization.The study of ion-doped gain medium extends the application fields of the laser. Thisarticle reviewed the advances on Yb:KGW-based solid-state lasers, and introducedthe applications of the Yb:KGW crystal in the field of high-power solid-state lasers.A laser oscillator with Yb:KGW crystal as the gain medium was setupexperimentally. After fine tuning, laser oscillation was achieved in three cavities withdifferent geometries. The characteristics of output laser were analyzed. On the basisof laser oscillation, we have investigated the relationship between output power,conversion efficiency and pump. Then a semiconductor saturable mirror was insertedinto the cavity, the modulated pulses were obtained.Besides the above, this article also demonstrated our research onmulti-wavelength optical parametric oscillator.With the development of laser technology, expanding the output wavelengthrange of the output spectrum is becoming more important. Due to physical charactersof the gain medium, the output wavelength is mostly limited to a narrow band, whichblocked the applications which require the wavelength beyond the lasers. Thusoptical parametric oscillator, as tunable device for frequency conversion had beenput forward and investigated for years. In this paper, a multi-wavelengthsynchronously-pumped optical parametric oscillator based on PPKTP wasdemonstrated. The OPO was setup in ring cavity geometry and the maximal outputpower is36.4mW. Three nonlinear crystals were used in succession for frequencydoubling the signal wavelength. The wavelength of the SHG of signal wave from450nm to650nm, the signal wave from1000nm to1500nm, and idler wavespectrum from1800nm to2500nm was detected. All the wavelengths could beobtained by fine tuning cavity length. Benefitting from the nonlinear process inPPKTP or BBO/BIBO crystal, three to six wavelengths could be outputsimultaneously.