High peak power ultrafast Yb:CaF2 oscillator pumped by a single-mode fiber-coupled laser diode

Opt Express. 2017 Oct 16;25(21):26289-26295. doi: 10.1364/OE.25.026289.

Abstract

We demonstrate a high peak power mode-locked Yb:CaF2 oscillator pumped by a single-mode laser diode. The laser operated in hybrid Kerr-lens and SESAM mode-locked regime. Its performance was optimized by varying the output coupler ratio. Pulses as short as 65 fs were generated with 0.4% transmission. Employing 5% output coupler enabled generation of 77 fs pulses with 46 kW of peak power (262 mW of average output power). We believe that such high peak powers can open a way to practical applications of single-mode diode-pumped ultrafast ytterbium lasers.