Bandwidth-limited picosecond pulses from a neodymium-phosphate glass oscillator

Abstract

Direct measurements using a picosecond streak camera have shown that transform-limited pulses having durations ∼5 psec are produced throughout the pulse train of a mode-locked neodymium-phosphate glass laser operating in the TEM00 mode. Under the conditions of higher-power multimode operation, bandwidth-limited pulses are generated in the initial part of the train only. Spectral and temporal broadening due to intensity-dependent nonlinear effects are observed as the higher-power mode-locked trains evolve.