Broadband operation of a Ti:Sapphire laser using novel double-chirped mirrors and semiconductor saturable absorbers

Abstract

Pulses of 6.5 fs duration have been obtained using custom tailored double-chirped mirrors (DCMs) and a broadband semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) that leads to reliable self-starting operation. With a single set of novel ultra-broadband DCMs we can tune the center wavelength of self-starting 30-fs pulses over 300 nm. The exchange of the cavity mirrors, which is usually neccessary when tuning over such a broad wavelength range, can thus be avoided.