V. Couderc et al., 2.8 ps pulses from a mode-locked diode pumped Nd : YVO4 laser using quadratic polarization switching, OPT COMMUN, 166(1-6), 1999, pp. 103-111
An experimental and theoretical study on a new passive mode-locking techniq
ue based on a second order non-linear crystal cut for type II SHG is presen
ted. The method exploits the cascading of sum and difference frequency gene
ration to realize an intensity-dependent polarization rotation. A numerical
model was developed to predict and optimize in terms of pulse duration, th
e performance of a laser passively mode-locked by quadratic polarization sw
itching. The influence of the cavity design, the influence of the nonlinear
crystal GVD and the benefit of GVD compensation were considered. Predictio
ns are compared with experimental data measured with a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4
laser. Transform-limited pulses as short as 2.8 ps were obtained at 1064 n
m with an average power of 670 mW. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All right
s reserved.