Passive picosecond and femtosecond mode-locking laser action of Yb3+:LuYSiO5

Abstract

Efficient passive mode locking of a diode-pumped Yb3+:LuYSiO5 (Yb:LYSO) laser is first demonstrated in experiment using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), to the best of our knowledge. A stable pulse train with a repetition rate of 101 MHz is generated. The average output power of 2.13 W and the pulse duration of 3.9 ps. With a pair of SF10 uncoated prisms for dispersion compensation, we obtained pulses as short as 780 fs with center wavelength around 1042 nm, the average output power of 1.03 W and the peak power of 13.1 kW.