Abstract

We report on a bulk GaAlAs mirror which is used as a saturable absorber for subpicosecond pulse generation around 835 nm. The mirror consists of a 200 nm layer of bulk GaAlAs (with approximately 5% Al content) which is grown on a linear Bragg mirror and is used as a laser end mirror. The incorporation of the bulk GaAlAs mirror into a synchronously pumped styryl-9 dye laser leads to a significant mode locking improvement and pulse shortening. Optimum operation of the laser is obtained for wavelengths near the room temperature band edge of the GaAlAs material: at 836 nm close to bandwidth limited pulses with a duration of 220 fs are generated.

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