Diode-pumped mode-locked Yb:YAG ceramic laser

Abstract

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:YAG ceramic laser was demonstrated. 417 and 286 fs pulses with average powers of 250 and 25 mW were obtained at 1030 nm using 1 and 0.1% output couplers, respectively. 233 fs pulses with an average power of 20 mW were also obtained at a center wavelength of 1048.3 nm using a 0.1% output coupler. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a diode-pumped mode-locked Yb:YAG ceramic laser.