SELF-STARTING 6.5-FS PULSES FROM A TI-SAPPHIRE LASER

We demonstrate self-starting 6.5-fs pulses from a Kerr-lens mode-locke d Ti:sapphire laser with 200-mW average output power at a pulse repeti tion rate of approximate to 86 MHz. This is to our knowledge the short est pulse ever generated directly from a laser. For dispersion compens ation we used a prism pair in combination with double-chirped mirrors, which balances the higher-order dispersion of the prism pair and ther efore flattens the average total group-delay dispersion in the laser c avity. For self-starting mode locking we used a broadband semiconducto r saturable-absorber mirror. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.