Mode-locked Cr4+:YAG laser: model and experiment

Abstract A mode-locked Cr 4+ :YAG laser was simulated using a complex Landau-Ginzburg equation. The pulse widths and spectrum were determined as a function of laser tuning over a range from 1470 nm to 1550 nm. Simulations exhibit the same trend as the experimental data and the magnitudes are in reasonable agreement, as well. We are able to analytically estimate the pulse width, which is controlled by the cavity dispersion and the pulse energy. We find that the absorber saturation is responsible for determining the pulse energies. The experimentally observed pulse widths widen for long wavelengths; our simulations attribute this to dispersion and to a wavelength-dependent reduction of the saturable absorber modulation combined with the effect of gain saturation.