title: 60-fs pulses from a diode-pumped Nd:glass laser.
abstract: We demonstrate 60-fs pulses with an average output power of 84 mW from a diode-pumped Nd:glass laser mode locked by a low-finesse antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber (A-FPSA). The mode-locked spectrum spreads over most of the available Nd:glass fluorescence bandwidth. At increased pulse energy fluence or decreased negative group-velocity dispersion, multiple pulsing was observed. We experimentally characterize this behavior, which can be explained by the saturation behavior of the A-FPSA and the limited available gain bandwidth. These considerations are significant for the design of saturable absorbers to achieve stable passive mode locking.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kopf
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morier-Genoud
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Keller