Ultraviolet Femtosecond Pulse Amplification with High Gain Using Solid-State, Broad-Band Gain Medium Ce3+:LiCaAlF6

Abstract

Femtosecond pulse amplification with high gain in the ultraviolet region has been demonstrated using the solid-state, broad-band crystal Ce3+:LiCaAlF6. With the seed pulses coming from the third harmonic generation of a cw mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser, the confocal, four-pass amplifier pumped by 15-mJ, 266-nm, 10-ns pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser demonstrates 60-dB gain and delivers 54-µJ, 289-nm, 200-fs, 10-Hz pulses. There is almost no satellite pulse even without any special single-pulse selection.