Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:GSAG laser at 942 nm

Stable mode-locking of a diode-pumped Nd:GSAG laser emitting at 942 nm between the F2/34-I9/24 transition has been demonstrated. With a z cavity and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror passive mode locker, we obtained 8.7 ps pulses at repetition rate of 95.6 MHz and average output power of 510 mW. The total optical efficiency is about 3.1%.