MW-Level Peak-Power from a Passively Q-Switched Hybrid Fiber-Bulk Amplifier and its Applications

A novel laser system with optical parameters that fill the gap between Q-switched and modelocked lasers has been developed. It consists of a high gain hybrid fiber-bulk amplifier seeded by a low power SESAM Q-switched oscillator. The mW level output power of the seed oscillator is preamplified by a single mode fiber which is limited by SRS effects. The final amplification stage is realized by a longitudinal pumped Nd:YVO4 crystal in a double pass setup. This MOPA configuration delivers sub-300ps pulses at repetition rates up to 1 MHz with an output power exceeding 60W. Nonlinear frequency conversion to 532nm and 355nm is achieved with efficiencies of >75% and >45%, respectively. Due to the high peak power, high repetition rate and high beam quality of this system, applications formerly only addressable at lower pulse repetition frequencies or with complex modelocked laser systems are now possible with high speed and lower cost of ownership. Application results that take benefit from these new laser parameters will be shown. Furthermore, the reduction of the pulse duration to sub-100ps and power scaling to output powers >100W by the use of the Innoslab concept are being presented.