Self-starting passively mode-locked tunable femtosecond Cr4+:YAG laser using a saturable absorber mirror

Abstract

We have demonstrated self-starting, passive mode-locking of a Cr4+:YAG laser using a saturable absorber mirror structure. Highly stable femtosecond pulses tunable from 1488 to 1535 nm were generated with average output powers ranging from 40 to 80 mW. Nearly transform limited pulses of 120 fs duration were obtained at 1488 nm.