GENERATION OF 48-FS PULSES AND MEASUREMENT OF CRYSTAL DISPERSION BY USING A REGENERATIVELY INITIATED SELF-MODE-LOCKED CHROMIUM-DOPED FORSTERITE LASER

A regeneratively initiated self-mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite laser operated at 3.5-degrees-C is described. By employing intracavity negative-group-velocity dispersion compensation, nearly transform-lim ited femtosecond pulses of 48-fs (FWHM) duration were generated with a verage TEM00 output powers of 380 mW at 1.23 mum. Regenerative initiat ion provides improvement in the output stability and ease of operation compared with fixed-frequency acousto-optic modulators. By tuning the mode-locked laser in the range 1.21-1.26 mum, estimated values for fo rsterite dispersion constants have also been obtained for the first ti me to our knowledge. The demonstrated power and stability open the doo r to applications such as efficient second-harmonic generation.