42  W femtosecond Yb:Lu₂O₃ regenerative amplifier

Area of Science:

• Laser Physics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Yb:Lu2O3 is a promising material for high-power laser systems.
• Developing efficient regenerative amplifiers is crucial for various scientific and industrial applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a femtosecond high-power regenerative amplifier based on Yb:Lu2O3.
• To evaluate the performance of the Yb:Lu2O3 amplifier in both continuous-wave and pulsed operation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Yb:Lu2O3 as the gain medium in a regenerative amplifier setup.
• Operated the amplifier in continuous-wave and pulsed (femtosecond) regimes.
• Measured output power, pulse duration, spectral characteristics, and beam quality (M²).

Main Results:

• Achieved up to 64.5 W in continuous-wave operation.
• Demonstrated 42 W average output power in pulsed operation at 500 kHz repetition rate.
• Generated 780 fs pulses with a peak power of ~100 MW and a spectral FWHM of 2.4 nm centered at 1034 nm.
• Obtained a nearly TEM00 beam with an M² value of 1.2.

Conclusions:

• Yb:Lu2O3 exhibits excellent thermo-mechanical properties suitable for high-power femtosecond amplifiers.
• The developed amplifier shows significant potential for applications requiring high average power and ultrashort pulses.
• Further optimization may enable even shorter pulse durations.