Dual-comb thin-disk oscillator

Achieving high output powers in dual-comb sources is important for possible applications like deep UV high resolution spectroscopy. Here the authors demonstrate a fully passive scheme of generating a set of high-power dual-combs from a thin-disc gain medium. Dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) normally operates with two independent, relatively low power and actively synchronized laser sources. This hinders the wide adoption for practical implementations and frequency conversion into deep UV and VUV spectral ranges. Here, we report a fully passive, high power dual-comb laser based on thin-disk technology and its application to direct frequency comb spectroscopy. The peak power (1.2 MW) and the average power (15 W) of our Yb:YAG thin-disk dual-comb system are more than one-order-of-magnitude higher than in any previous systems. The scheme allows easy adjustment of the repetition frequency difference during operation. Both combs share all cavity components which leads to an excellent mutual stability. A time-domain signal recorded over 10 ms without any active stabilization was sufficient to resolve individual comb lines after Fourier transformation.