Femtosecond Pulses Generation From a Diode-Pumped Yb:CaNb₂O₆ Disordered Crystal Laser

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrated a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:CaNb2O6 disordered crystal laser. Pumping by a 978-nm fiber coupled laser diode and assisting by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, stable continuous-wave mode-locked laser pulses with a width of 170 fs at the central wavelength of about 1038 nm were obtained. The laser pulses had an average output power and a repetition rate of 135 mW and 80 MHz, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the shortest laser pulses generated from Yb:CaNb2O6 disordered crystal lasers.

Keywords

• Yb:CaNb₂O₆ disordered crystal
• SESAM
• mode-locking
• femtosecond laser
• laser diode