title: Fluoride semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for ultrashort pulse generation.
abstract: We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first ultrabroadband monolithically grown AlGaAs/CaF(2) semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror (SESAM) that covers nearly the entire gain spectrum of a Ti:sapphire laser. A large high-reflectivity bandwidth of more than 300 nm is provided by a device consisting of only six material layers. This fluoride SESAM had a modulation depth of 2.2%, a fast recovery time constant of less than 150 fs, and a slow recovery time constant of 1.2 ps. Using this SESAM inside a Ti:sapphire laser produced self-starting sub-10-femtosecond pulses.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schön
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haiml
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gallmann
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Keller