0000000000649242
AUTHOR
Stephane Barland
Coherent master equation for laser modelocking
Modelocked lasers constitute the fundamental source of optically-coherent ultrashort-pulsed radiation, with huge impact in science and technology. Their modeling largely rests on the master equation (ME) approach introduced in 1975 by Hermann A. Haus. However, that description fails when the medium dynamics is fast and, ultimately, when light-matter quantum coherence is relevant. Here we set a rigorous and general ME framework, the coherent ME (CME), that overcomes both limitations. The CME predicts strong deviations from Haus ME, which we substantiate through an amplitude-modulated semiconductor laser experiment. Accounting for coherent effects, like the Risken-Nummedal-Graham-Haken multim…
Quantum coherence and fast-gain effects in laser modelocking: The coherent master equation
Modelocking embraces a variety of techniques leading to the periodic emission of ultrashort laser pulses, typically on the picosecond scale and below, whose impact in science and technology can be hardly exaggerated.