Controlling the width of picosecond laser pulses

The relaxation time τ_R of the saturable dye used to mode-lock a Nd: YAG laser has been changed using different dyes or dye solvent mixtures and the laser bandwidth Δω changed by the insertion of an etalon. The pulse duration τ_p was approximately transform-limited for τ_R<2π/Δω but increased to about twice this value when 2π/Δω<τ_p<τ_R. No significant increase in pulse duration was observed for τ_R?2π/Δω but multiple pulses were generated within each round-trip-transit-time.