Experimental Guide for Compact Bow-Tie Femtosecond Solid-State Laser Development

Bow-tie cavity configurations have gained significant attention due to their efficacy in facilitating stable resonator operation for applications requiring short pulse operation and high repetition rate pulses, offering versatility and reliability. While there is an extensive body of literature addressing the theoretical aspects and applications of this laser configuration, there exists a gap in practical insights and systematic approaches guidance pertaining to development and precision alignment of this laser type. The paper achieves this by compiling a range of analytical and optimization techniques of the bow-tie cavity configuration, delineating the necessary steps for optimization required for continuous wave operation, ultimately leading to the attainment of the pulsed regime through the Kerr Lens Mode-locking technique, offering a detailed account of a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser cavity development, optimization, and performance evaluation using dispersion-compensating mirrors producing of a low-energy pulse of 1nJ, high repetition rate of 1GHz and an short pulse duration of 61fs. This work can be useful for researchers and engineers seeking to embark on the development of compact and high-performance femtosecond lasers for a spectrum of applications, encompassing biomedical imaging, laser-assisted surgery, spectroscopy, and optical frequency combs.