High energy femtosecond fiber laser at 1018 nm and high power Cherenkov radiation generation

Abstract

Two novel laser systems for ultrafast applications have been designed and built. For the seeding of a high energy cryogenically cooled Yb:YLF laser, a novel 1018 nm fiber laser system is demonstrated. It produces >35 nJ pulse energy and 5 nm spectral bandwidth. A double-cladd amplifier and an appropriate filter to optimize the system for the amplifier seeding application were employed. This is the highest pulse energy with narrow spectrum at 1018 nm. For a photonic analog-to-digital conversion system operating at 1250 nm, a fiber laser system generating 4 W of femtosecond Cherenkov radiation at that wavelength was built. The characteristics of the Cherenkov radiation were well studied.