Ultrafast laser oscillators are indispensable tools for diverse applications in scientific research and industry. When the phases of the longitudinal laser cavity modes are locked, pulses as short as a few femtoseconds can be generated. As most high-power oscillators are based on narrow-bandwidth materials, the achievable duration for high-power output is usually limited. Here, we present a distributed Kerr lens mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator which generates sub-50&#x2009;fs pulses with spectral widths far broader than the emission bandwidth of the gain medium at full width at half maximum. Simulations were also carried out, indicating good qualitative agreement with the experimental results. Our proof-of-concept study shows that this new mode-locking technique is pulse energy and average power scalable and applicable to other types of gain media, which may lead to new records in the generation of ultrashort pulses.

Jinwei Zhang

Markus P&#x04E7;tzlberger

Qing Wang

Jonathan Brons

Marcus Seidel

Dominik Bauer

Dirk Sutter

Vladimir Pervak

Alexander Apolonski

Ka Fai Mak

Vladimir Kalashnikov

Zhiyi Wei

Ferenc Krausz

Oleg Pronin

Distributed Kerr Lens Mode-Locked Yb:YAG Thin-Disk Oscillator

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The Open Access journal Ultrafast Science, published in association with&nbsp;Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, is a&nbsp;platform for cutting-edge and emerging topics in ultrafast science with broad interest from scientific communities.

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Ultrafast Science's editorial board is led by Qihuang Gong (Peking University)&nbsp;and Wei Zhao (Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, CAS),&nbsp;and is comprised of experts who have made significant and well recognized contributions to the field of ultrafast science.

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Ultrafast Science is now accepting submissions for its first special issue:&nbsp;<a href="https://spj.sciencemag.org/ultrafast-science-special-issues/attosecond/">Attosecond Science and Technology</a>

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Ultrafast Science - Table of contents 2022

Ultrafast Science | Science Partner Journal

title

The Open Access journal Ultrafast Science, published in association with Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, is a platform for cutting-edge and emerging topics in ultrafast science with broad interest from scientific communities.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents: 2022

Distributed Kerr Lens Mode-Locked Yb:YAG Thin-Disk Oscillator