Low-loss broadband SESAMs for mode locked lasers

Summary form only given. The semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) are now well developed and broadly used in various self-starting mode locked solid state lasers. For the SESAM operating at the wavelength of Ti:sapphire lasers, the bottom mirror can be a AlAs-AlGaAs Bragg reflector that has a moderate bandwidth. We describe here the details of this new design for the SESAMs operating at 1300 nm and 800 nm, and discuss the performance of the mode locked lasers with these SESAMs.