Laser Concepts
Our research on laser concepts is divided into the subsections below.
A broad variety of different solid-state lasers (SSLs) is well established in industrial as well as in scientific fields, demonstrating the high versatility of SSLs as coherent light sources [1]. Typically SSLs based on rare-earth doped laser crystals show a narrow gain bandwidth and are thus well suited for the realization of single-frequency lasers, which are often used for high precision metrology. In contrast, rare-earth doped glasses and transient-metal-doped crystals can provide a much broader gain bandwidth, enabling the generation of ultra-short laser pulses via mode locking. Such mode-locked SSLs find applications, e.g., in the field of microscopy. Furthermore, SSLs are of great interest for material processing as they can reach high average output powers up to multiple kilowatts.
In the Optical Technologies group we exploit the versatility of SSLs in order to develop novel light sources for microscopy and metrology applications. A major focus of our research deals with the excitation and control of transverse modes in SSLs, as both the unique amplitude and phase structure of these modes provide promising potential for the application, e.g., in multi-particle optical tweezers or for beam pointing detection. Furthermore, we study the spatiotemporal dynamics of transverse modes generated in SSLs and perform numerical calculations in order to analyze these dynamics.
A brief overview of our current research on the excitation of transverse modes in SSLs and their spatiotemporal behavior can be found on the following pages or by clicking on the icon.
Fundamental Publications
Many applications in current research require high peak powers, e.g., nonlinear microscopy and nonlinear photonics. High peak power levels in compact set-ups can be achieved with ultrafast fiber lasers and amplifiers [1].
The Optical Technologies group concentrates on compact and reliable light sources for nonlinear spectroscopy and microscopy (see chemically-selective microscopy) and for the exploitation of nonlinear χ3-processes (see nonlinear optics in waveguides). For these fields of application, the tunability across a wide wavelength range and the possibility of adjusting the pulse duration are required. Typically, the pulses are generated by mode-locking in a laser oscillator and are then boosted to a higher pulse energy in a power amplifier. A suitable choice of linear and nonlinear influences is required for both the generation and the amplification process in order to realize light pulses with high peak powers at low-noise levels.
Besides our research activities we have start-up activities in the field of fiber-based ultra-fast light sources.
A short overview of our current research regarding fiber lasers and fiber amplifiers can be found on the following pages or by clicking on the icon.
Fundamental Publications