Solid-state laser mode-locking near 1.25 μm employing a carbon nanotube saturable absorber mirror

Abstract

We demonstrate passive mode-locking of a Cr:forsterite laser with a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber mirror (SWCNT-SAM). Without compensation of intra-cavity dispersion, the self-mode-locked laser generates 11.7 ps pulses at a repetition rate of 86 MHz. The dispersion-compensated laser yields ultrashort pulses as short as 80 fs near 1.25 μm at 78 MHz with average output powers up to 295 mW, representing the highest power ever reported for mode-locked solid-state lasers based on saturable absorption of SWCNTs in this spectral region.