Abstract

The new generation of semiconductor-laser-pumped self-mode-locked lasers based on the Cr³⁺-doped coiquirities LiCAF, LiSAF, and LiSGaF offer compact and efficient replacements for Ar⁺-pumped Ti:sapphire systems. Semiconductor laser pumping can result in free-running lasers with noise properties significantly better than those of mainframe ion laser pumped devices. However, semiconductor lasers with near-diffraction-limited beam profiles deliver much lower output powers than mainframe ion lasers. Higher power semiconductor lasers are available but exhibit nondiffraction-limited beams and consequently cannot be efficiently coupled into the tightly-focused mode required in a self-mode-locked laser.

© 1996 Optical Society of America