Widely tunable pulse durations from a passively mode-locked thin-disk Yb :YAG laser

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked thin-disk. Yb:YAG laser that generat es solitonlike pulses with durations that are continuously tunable in a ver y wide range from 3.3 to 89 ps or from 0.83 to 1.57 ps. The average powers are typically similar to 12 W. Previously [Opt. Lett. 25, 859 (2000)], only pulse durations in a narrow range near 0.7 ps could be obtained from such lasers because of the effect of spatial hole burning. We achieved this much wider range by constructing a laser cavity with two different angles of in cidence on the thin disk, which greatly reduces the effect of spatial hole burning. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.