Low-repetition-rate femtosecond operation in extended-cavity mode-locked Yb:CALGO laser

Abstract : We report on an extended-cavity mode-locked laser based on an Yb:CALGO crystal operating either at 27 MHz and 93 fs pulse duration or at 15 MHz and 170 fs duration single-pulse regime. To the best of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of an extended-cavity oscillator based on Yb-doped crystal produc- ing sub-100 fs pulses. The pulse energy was 24 nJ directly at the output of the oscillator (and 17 nJ after compression). Based on a similar design, we also demonstrate an unprecedented double-pulse dual- wavelength femtosecond regime. An explanation of this atypical regime is proposed.