Ultrafast laser pulses generated from the chromium-doped cunyite laser

Abstract Femtosecond pulses were generated from a Cr 4+ : Cunyite laser using a combination of a broadband semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), chirped mirrors, and passive mode locking. The astigmatically compensated asymmetric X-cavity with a 4.5-mm-long Cr 4+ :Ca 2 GeO 4 sample was operated with a 2.5% output coupler. Dispersion compensation was achieved using chirped mirrors. During self-starting mode-locked operation, pulses as short as 365 fs were generated at a pulse repetition rate of 100 MHz with output power of 70 mW and a spectral bandwidth of 5.2 nm at the center wavelength of 1432 nm.