title: Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Er,Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 laser at 1.5-1.6 microm.
abstract: We report the first demonstration to our knowledge of passive mode locking in a diode-pumped Er(3+) and Yb(3+) codoped YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) laser operating in the 1.5-1.6 microm spectral region. Low-loss GaInNAs quantum-well semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are used for the initiation and stabilization of the ultrashort-pulse generation. Pulses as short as 4.8 ps were generated at 1530 nm with an average output power up to 280 mW for 2 W of absorbed pump power produced by a high-brightness tapered 980 nm laser diode. Passive mode locking has also been demonstrated around 1555 nm with typical average powers of around 100 mW and pulse durations of 5.1 ps.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK. aal2@st-andrews.ac.uk
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lagatsky
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Kisel
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Troshin
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Tolstik
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Kuleshov
authors.forename: N I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Leonyuk
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Zhukov
authors.forename: E U
authors.initials: EU
authors.lastname: Rafailov
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sibbett