Diode-pumped passively mode-locked 1342 nm Nd:YVO4 laser with an AlGaInAs quantum-well saturable absorber

Abstract

We demonstrate what we believe to be the first use of AlGaInAs quantum wells (QWs) as a saturable absorber for a diode-pumped passively mode locked Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm. The QWs are grown on a Fedoped InP substrate that is transparent at lasing wavelength. At an incident pump power of 13.5 W an average output power of 1.05 W with a continuous mode-locked pulse duration of 26.4 ps at a repetition rate of 152 MHz was generated. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America