SESAM mode-locked diode-pumped femtosecond Cr:YAG laser

In this paper we report the development of the compact directly diode-pumped as well as Yb-fiber pumped broadband femtosecond Cr/sup 4+/:YAG laser, operating around 1.5 /spl mu/m. The laser is mode-locked using the novel hybrid InGaAs-InP based semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) combined with the broadband dielectric mirror and generating down to sub-50 fs transform-limited pulses. The advantage of SESAM mode-locking over the pure Kerr-lens modelocking is the absence of a CW component. The SESAM and the prisms impose relatively high insertion losses.