Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

Ecole Polytechnique

Amplitude Systemes

Université Paris-saclay

Institut D'optique Graduate School

Nanolase S.a.

Frederic Druon

Patrick Georges

Marc Hanna

Yoann Zaouter

Dimitris Papadopoulos

Eric Cormier

Eric Mottay

Francois Daniel Balembois

Pierre Jean Devilder

Alain Brun

Louis Daniault

Dimitrios Papadopoulos

Xavier Delen

A method for generating ultrashort pulses includes directing a master beam having ultrashort pulses and at least one slave beam through an optical gate material. The intensity of the slave beam upstream of the optical gate material is lower than that of the master beam upstream of the optical gate material. The optical gate material and the pulses of the master beam are chosen to induce a Kerr effect when the master beam passes through the optical gate material, the Kerr effect producing a modulation of the phase of the slave beam in association with pulses of the master beam when the slave beam passes through the optical gate material. The modulation of the phase of the slave beam is transformed into a modulation of the amplitude thereof using a complementary optical device to generate a slave beam downstream of the optical gate material having ultrashort pulses.

Method for generating ultrashort pulses

A method and passive device for the coherent combination of two amplified and/or spectrally broadened optical beams using at least one bidirectional optical component (A, A), the device includes an amplitude division ring interferometer having optical splitting and recombining elements disposed so as to receive an incident optical beam (S) and to split it spatially into a first secondary input beam (H) and a second secondary input beam (H), optical guiding elements disposed so as to define an optical path in the form of a ring in the interferometer, the at least one bidirectional optical component being disposed on the optical path of the ring interferometer, the splitting and recombining elements being disposed in such a way as to receive and to recombine spatially, temporally and coherently the first secondary output beam (H&#x2033;) and the second secondary output beam (H&#x2033;), so as to form a coherent output beam.

Device and passive method for the coherent combination of two amplified and/or spectrally broadened optical beams

An ultra-short high-power light pulse source including a first laser pump source (), a mode-locked laser oscillator (), a second laser pump source (), a waveguide () capable of inserting spectral phases into the light pulses, and a compressor () capable of generating predetermined spectral phases into the light pulses. The waveguide () includes an element capable of compensating the predetermined spectral phases generated at least by the compressor (), the second laser pump source () being capable of delivering a second pump light flow () having a power Psuch that the spectral phases generated by the wave guide () are opposed or quasi opposed to the predetermined spectral phases generated by the compressor () in order to generate compressed ultra-short light pulses () at the output of the compressor () with a planar or quasi planar spectral phase.

Ultra-short high-power light pulse source

A sub-nanosecond passively Q-switched microchip laser is disclosed. It combines an optically pumped, passively Q-switched, high-frequency, microchip laser producing short pulses with an optically end-pumped amplifier producing high small-signal gain while pumped at low power. The microchip laser for emitting pulsed laser radiation is a monolithic body comprising two reflective elements defining an optical resonator for laser radiation, a laser gain medium, e.g., Nd:YAG, and a saturable absorber medium, e.g., Cr :YAG placed inside said resonator. The optical amplifier stage for amplifying the laser radiation comprises an amplifying medium, e.g., Nd:YVO . The microchip laser and the amplifier are optically end-pumped, preferably by high-brightness diodes. This entirely passive laser system directly produces &mgr;J pulses at repetition rates of about 45 kHz.

Sub-nanosecond passively q-switched microchip laser system

Growing community of inventors

Orsay, France

Frederic Druon