87 fs mode-locked Tm,Ho:CaYAlO₄ laser at ∼2043 nm

Abstract

We report on, to the best of our knowledge, the first sub-100 fs mode-locked Ho³⁺-laser in the 2 μm spectral range employing a disordered co-doped Tm,Ho:CaYAlO₄ (Tm,Ho:CALYO) crystal as a gain medium. Pulses as short as 87 fs are produced with an average output power of 27 mW at 80.45 MHz repetition rate. An output power of 96 mW is reached for a pulse duration of 98 fs.