Quantum well devices for mode-locking fibre lasers

It is demonstrated that integrated semiconductor saturable absorber/cavity end mirrors can be used with doped fibre lasers to produce self-starting, passively mode-locked pulses in the 1.55 mu m and 1.06 mu m regions. From very simple laser configurations the authors obtained picosecond and subpicosecond pulses. These systems are of interest as investigative tools in spectroscopy and for other applications requiring short optical pulses.<
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