Symbols and Abbreviations ...................................... V7
List of Figures .............................................. XIII
List of Tables ................................................. XV
Publications ................................................. XVII
Abstract ...................................................... XXI
Kurzfassung (German) ........................................ XXIII
Chapter 1 Introduction and Motivation .......................... 1
Chapter 2 Passive Modelocking .................................. 7
2.1 Different techniques of passive modelocking ................ 9
2.1.1 Fast saturable absorbers ........................... 10
2.1.2 Slow saturable absorbers and dynamic gain
saturation ......................................... 11
2.1.3 Slow saturable absorbers, constant gain and
soliton modelocking ................................ 11
2.2 Semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) ........... 13
2.2.1 Operating principle of SESAMs ...................... 14
2.2.2 Antiresonant SESAM structure ....................... 17
2.2.3 Roll-over .......................................... 19
2.3 Challenges of modelocking at high repetition rates ........ 19
2.3.1 Q-switched modelocking ............................. 19
2.3.2 Multiple pulsing ................................... 22
Chapter 3 Frequency Comb Dynamics ............................. 25
3.1 Properties of frequency combs ............................. 26
3.1.1 Time domain ........................................ 26
3.1.2 Frequency domain ................................... 27
3.2 Stabilization of frequency combs .......................... 30
3.3 Overview of the existing frequency comb technologies ...... 32
3.4 High repetition rate frequency combs ...................... 34
Chapter 4 Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal
Fibers ......................................................... 35
4.1 Generalized nonlinear Schrцdinger equation ................ 36
4.1.1 Full dispersion .................................... 37
4.1.2 Kerr nonlinearity .................................. 39
4.1.3 Dispersion of the nonlinear response ............... 41
4.1.4 Raman nonlinearity ................................. 42
4.1.5 Interplay of negative dispersion and SPM:
solitons ........................................... 43
4.2 Supercontinuum generation via soliton fission ............. 44
4.2.1 Soliton fission .................................... 46
4.2.2 Raman soliton shift ................................ 47
4.2.3 Dispersive wave generation ......................... 47
4.3 Coherence properties of supercontinua ..................... 48
4.4 Numerical simulations of pulse propagation ................ 49
4.5 Photonic crystal fibers ................................... 50
Chapter 5 Self-referenced 75-MHz Frequency Comb from a DPSSL .. 53
5.1 75-MHz femtosecond Er:Yb:glass laser ...................... 54
5.2 Octave-spanning supercontinuum generation ................. 55
5.3 CEO beat frequency detection .............................. 56
5.4 Comb stabilization ........................................ 57
5.5 Comb stability characterization ........................... 58
Chapter 6 Self-referenceable 1-GHz Frequency Comb from
a DPSSL ........................................................ 63
6.1 1-GHz femtosecond Yb:KGW laser ............................ 64
6.1.1 Experimental setup ................................. 65
6.1.2 Properties of the laser crystal .................... 66
6.1.3 Pump source: DBR tapered diode laser ............... 68
6.1.4 Cavity configuration, GTI-mirror, SESAM ............ 70
6.1.5 Results ............................................ 70
6.2 Octave-spanning supercontinuum generation ................. 73
6.3 Pulse compression ......................................... 76
6.4 CEO beat frequency detection .............................. 76
Chapter 7 Scaling of the Repetition Rate ...................... 81
7.1 Harmonic modelocking up to 4 GHz with a femtosecond
Yb:KGW laser .............................................. 82
7.1.1 Setup .............................................. 82
7.1.2 Experimental results ............................... 83
7.2 Fundamentally modelocked 2.4-GHz femtosecond Yb:KGW
laser ..................................................... 84
7.2.1 Setup .............................................. 85
7.2.2 Experimental results ............................... 86
Chapter 8 Self-referenceable High Power Frequency Comb from
a DPSSL ........................................................ 89
8.1 7-W femtosecond Yb:LuO thin-disk laser .................... 90
8.2 Octave-spanning supercontinuum generation ................. 94
8.3 CEO beat frequency detection .............................. 94
Chapter 9 Conclusion and Outlook .............................. 97
References .................................................... 101
Curriculum Vitse .............................................. 109
Acknowledgements .............................................. 111
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