Numerical study of active mode locking with hybrid lasers

Summary form only given. In active mode locking of a laser, there exists a dispersion limited, maximum lockable bandwidth of a Gaussian pulse for a given modulation strength. For a narrow band, homogeneously broadened laser the mode-locked pulse bandwidth is much smaller due to the strong gain narrowing effect. Inhomogeneously broadened lasers do not suffer from gain narrowing, and consequently only partially coherent pulses can be obtained. It has been demonstrated in an actively mode-locked hybrid Nd:YLF and Nd:phosphate glass laser that by using two different laser media in one cavity one can obtain broader mode-locked bandwidth than by using the homogeneously broadened medium (Nd:YLF) alone, while phase coherence is ensured as well. In this paper we present the results of a numerical study of active mode locking with hybrid lasers.