Abstract

To date, lasers that generate trains of femtosecond pulses exist only in certain windows in the visible and near-infrared parts of the spectrum. With a view toward applications such as solid-state and molecular spectroscopy, it is desirable to extend the range of availability of these lasers. Our approach, which makes use of a ${\text{KCl:Na}}^{\text{+}}{\text{O}}_{{}_{\text{2}}}^{-}$ color-center laser pumped by an additive-pulse mode- locked Nd:YAG laser (APM-YAG), results in successful generation of subpicosecond pulses near 1.9 μm.

© 1993 Optical Society of America