ANALYTICAL SPATIOTEMPORAL DESIGN OF KERR LENS MODE-LOCKED LASER RESONATORS

An analytical method of spatio-temporal design for a Kerr lens mode-lo cked Ti:sapphire laser is presented. Various spatial and temporal effe cts are considered to derive simple quadratic equations of the pulse w idth for both standing- and traveling-wave cavities. By solving the qu adratic equation, we obtain the relations between pulse width and othe r cavity parameters for a given system for optimal design of a Kerr le ns mode-locked cavity and to generate the shortest laser pulses. Our t heoretical results agree well with the experimental results, and the c omputation time of this analytic approach for cavity parameters is red uced drastically as compared with an iteratively numerical approach. ( C) 1996 Optical Society of America.