Sub-500-fs soliton-like pulse in a passively mode-locked broadband surface-emitting laser with 100 mW average power

Abstract

We report on femtosecond operation of a broadband diode-pumped external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser, passively mode locked with a fast quantum-well Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror grown at 735°C. We obtained 477 fs pulses at 1.21 GHz. The average output power is 100 mW at 1040 nm, the pulse peak power 152 W, with ∼1W of 830 nm pump. The rf spectrum shows a linewidth <50kHz at the noise level (-65dB). We believe that the group-delay dispersion is compensated by the negative self-phase modulation in the absorber structure, leading to soliton-like mode locking. This system requires no additional technological step after the growth of the structures. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.