Cavity-dumped femtosecond Yb:CALYO laser based on SESAM assisted Kerr-lens mode locking

Abstract

In this paper, we present the demonstration of a cavity-dumped Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond oscillator based on an Yb:CALYO crystal for the first time. With the assistance of an SESAM, the Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:CALYO laser delivered pulses with an average power of 2.8 W at a repetition rate of 61.3 MHz, corresponding to a pulse energy of 45.6 nJ. By employing a Pockels Cell consisting of dual β-BBO crystals and a thin film polarizer for cavity dumping, laser pulses of 280 nJ were achieved at both 1 MHz and 10 kHz repetition rates. The shortest pulse duration measured was 233 fs without external compression, resulting in a peak power of 1.06 MW.