Contents xi 4.4.4 Soliton Laser.................... .......109 4.5 Pulse Generation Without Mode-Locking.... ….111 4.5.1 Distributed Feedback Dye Laser (DFDL)...................111 4.5.2 Traveling-Wave Excitation......... ...112 4.5.3 Space-Time Selection ......................... ....112 4.5.4 Quenched Cavity........................................113 4.6 New Developments.....................114 4.6.1 Diode Pumped Lasers....................................114 4.6.2 Femtosecond Fibber Lasers...............................114 4.6.3 Femtosecond Diode Lasers .....115 4.6.4 New Gain Materials............... ..117 4.7 Trends ................... .118 References..。.… ..119 5 Pulsed Semiconductor Lasers T.Amand and X.Marie................... ...125 5.1 Introduction.................................................125 5.2 Semiconductor Lasers:Principle of Operation....................126 5.2.1 Semiconductor Physics Background........................126 5.2.2 pn Junction -Homojunction Laser ........................129 5.3 Semiconductor Laser Devices......................... .....131 5.3.1 Double-Heterostructure Laser .................. .....132 5.3.2 Quantum Well Lasers......................... ..137 5.3.3 Strained Quantum Well and Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers...................................................139 5.4 Semiconductor Lasers in Pulsed-Mode Operation.................141 5.4.1 Gain-Switched Operation.................................143 5.4.2 Q-Switched Operation....................................150 5.4.3 Mode-Locked Operation... ….159 5.4.4 Mode-Locking by Gain Modulation ........................160 5.4.5 Mode-Locking by Loss Modulation:Passive Mode-Locking by Absorption Saturation...................................163 5.4.6 Prospects for Further Developments........................170 References......................................................172 6 How to Manipulate and Change the Characteristics of Laser Pulses f.Saln..............................................175 6.1 Introduction........... ...175 6.2 Pulse Compression.....·..· .175 6.3Amplification................................................178 6.4 Wavelength Tunability ........................................185 6.4.1 Second-and Third-Harmonic Generation.......... ...186 6.4.2 Optical Parametric Generators (OPGs)and Amplifiers (OPAs)187 6.5 Conclusion..........192Contents xi 4.4.4 Soliton Laser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 4.5 Pulse Generation Without Mode-Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 4.5.1 Distributed Feedback Dye Laser (DFDL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 4.5.2 Traveling-Wave Excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 4.5.3 Space–Time Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 4.5.4 Quenched Cavity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 4.6 New Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 4.6.1 Diode Pumped Lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 4.6.2 Femtosecond Fibber Lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 4.6.3 Femtosecond Diode Lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 4.6.4 New Gain Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 4.7 Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 5 Pulsed Semiconductor Lasers T. Amand and X. Marie .......................................... 125 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 5.2 Semiconductor Lasers: Principle of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 5.2.1 Semiconductor Physics Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 5.2.2 pn Junction – Homojunction Laser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 5.3 Semiconductor Laser Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 5.3.1 Double-Heterostructure Laser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 5.3.2 Quantum Well Lasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 5.3.3 Strained Quantum Well and Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 5.4 Semiconductor Lasers in Pulsed-Mode Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 5.4.1 Gain-Switched Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 5.4.2 Q-Switched Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 5.4.3 Mode-Locked Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 5.4.4 Mode-Locking by Gain Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 5.4.5 Mode-Locking by Loss Modulation: Passive Mode-Locking by Absorption Saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 5.4.6 Prospects for Further Developments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 6 How to Manipulate and Change the Characteristics of Laser Pulses F. Salin ........................................................ 175 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 6.2 Pulse Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 6.3 Amplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 6.4 Wavelength Tunability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 6.4.1 Second- and Third-Harmonic Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 6.4.2 Optical Parametric Generators (OPGs) and Amplifiers (OPAs) 187 6.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192