Patent ID: 6393035
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
A laser for emitting a continuous-wave train of electromagnetic-radiation pulses characterized by an effective wavelength, the fundamental repetition rate of the emitted pulses exceeding 1 GHz, said laser comprising:an optical resonator; a solid-state laser gain element placed inside said optical resonator; means for exciting said solid-state laser gain element to emit electromagnetic radiation characterized by the effective wavelength; and means for passive mode-locking comprising a saturable absorber, wherein the pumping power of the means for exciting said laser gain element to emit electromagnetic radiation and the design and the output coupling value of said optical resonator are chosen such that the product (Flaser/Fsat,laser)Ã—(Fabs/Fsat,abs)>&Dgr;R, where Flaser is the fluence in the laser material, Fsat,laser=h&ugr;/&sgr;laser is the saturation fluence of the laser material, h is Planck's constant, &ugr; is the center laser frequency, &sgr;laser is the laser cross-section parameter, Fabs is the fluence on the absorber device, Fsat,abs=h&ugr;/&sgr;absâˆ’eff is the effective saturation fluence of the absorber, where &sgr;absâˆ’eff is the effective cross-section parameter of said absorber, and &Dgr;R is the modulation depth of said absorber.