Abstract

There has been a breakthrough in mode-locking techniques for solid-state lasers,^1,2 Applying these techniques utilizing Kerr-type nonlinearity, most solid-state lasers can be mode-locked down to the femtosecond region. These ultrashort-pulse lasers are extremely powerful tools for scientific applications. However, these alignment-critical, bulky lasers are still far from turn-key systems, which cart serve as compact black boxes for more general use in real-world applications.³ To develop lasers that meet such requirements, we need to find some devices to mode-lock laser-diode-pumped solid-state lasers robustly and stably. Anti-resonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorbers (A-FPSA)⁴ and saturable Bragg reflectors (SBR)⁵ are candidates for this. Both of them are nonlinear mirrors utilizing thin-film semiconductors. High-repetition capability is one of the most desired features for real world applications.⁶ In this paper, we investigated high-repetition-rate mode-locked operation of a Ti:sapphire laser with SBR.

© 1996 Optical Society of America