HIGH-POWER SUB-10-FS TI-SAPPHIRE OSCILLATORS

The state of the art of mirror-dispersion-controlled (MDC) Ti:sapphire laser oscillators is reviewed. Owing to improvements in the cavity an d mirror design, these systems can now routinely generate sub-10-fs pu lses with peak powers exceeding the megawatt level. The unique compact ness of MDC Ti:sapphire oscillators results in excellent noise charact eristics, a nearly diffraction limited output, and a high reproducibil ity of performance. Employing a diode-pumped solid-state laser as a pu mp source allows the generation of sub-10-fs pulses from an all-solid- state laser for the first time.