Towards Fully Stabilized 10GHz Optical Frequency Combs from SESAM-Modelocked Yb:CALGO Lasers

Diode pumped solid state lasers (DPSSL) can generate femtosecond pulse trains with pulse repetition rates of multiple gigahertz which are excellent sources for a multitude of applications that require high sampling rates, high frequency signals, or individually resolvable optical frequency comb lines. Recently we demonstrated a 10-GHz Yb:CALGO laser with a simple straight-cavity design (see fig. 1(a)), enabled by the use of self-defocusing cascaded nonlinearities in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal incorporating a apodized, fan-out quasi-phase-matching structure [1]. In a new dispersion-optimized laser based on this architecture producing shorter pulses we generate a supercontinuum (SC) without any amplification in a silicon nitride waveguide. In addition, we demonstrate active repetition rate locking, which paves the way to a fully stabilized 10 GHz optical frequency comb.