230 fs, 25 W pulses from conventional mode-locked laser diodes with saturable absorber created by ion implantation

Abstract

230 fs, 25 W pulses are obtained from conventional mode-locked AlGaAs laser diodes with highly-reflecting external cavities. Uncoated commercial diodes are used with a region of saturable absorption created by ion implantation. The overall pulse performances are believed to be among the best reported from simple electrically-pumped laser diodes without using additional amplifier sections.