Patent ID: 6778565
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
A laser for emitting a train of electromagnetic-radiation pulses characterized by an effective wavelength, the fundamental repetition rate frep of the emitted pulses exceeding 1 GHz, said laser comprising:an optical resonator having a total optical roundtrip cavity length 2L, where frep=c/2L>1 GHz, where c is the speed of light; an Er:Yb:doped solid-state gain element placed inside said optical resonator; optical pumping means for exciting said laser gain element, by optical pumping, to emit electromagnetic radiation characterized by the effective wavelength; and means for passive modelocking comprising a saturable absorber, said means for passive modelocking being operable to mode-lock the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the laser gain element, resulting in said train of electromagnetic radiation pulses.