Self-mode-locking and nonlinear lensing in VECSELs

Self-mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) have attracted the semiconductor laser community in recent years as promising sources of ultrashort laser pulses. While the mode-locked operation has been strongly relying on semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors for many years, a saturable-absorber-free technique referred to as self-mode-locking (SML) emerged, being associated to nonlinear lensing effects inside the device.