Generation of Stable Picosecond Pulses from an Electronically Wavelength-Tuned Laser for Material Processing

We generated stable mode-locked picosecond pulses from an electronically wavelength-tuned laser. An acousto-optic tunable filter was placed in the cavity of a Ti:Al2O3 laser. The laser maintained picosecond operation even when the oscillation wavelength was switched at 1-ms intervals. We experimentally observed the behavior of the pulse train at the wavelength switching points. DOI: 10.2961/jlmn.2011.01.0005