| Abstract: | We demonstrate wavelength tunability of femtosecond pulses over a range of more than 50 nm from a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser. The mode-locking mechanism can be explained by soliton mode locking that is started and stabilized by a broadband semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror designed for low loss over the full reflection bandwidth of the underlying Bragg mirrors, which ultimately limits tunability. We obtain 45-fs pulses at 105-mW average output power and a maximum mode-locked average output power of 125 mW with 60-fs pulses. |
