Patent ID: 7586957

Claim:
A method for generating pulsed laser energy, the method comprising: (a) reflecting laser energy generated by a lasing medium between a first mirror at one end of a resonator and a second mirror at the opposite end of said resonator and through a polarizer and an electro-optical device within said resonator and generating a modelocked pulse within the resonator by applying a periodic voltage waveform to the electro-optical device and maintaining an effective reflectivity of the second mirror at 80% or less; and (b) then amplifying the modelocked pulse by applying to said electro-optical device a first constant voltage and maintaining an effective reflectivity of the second mirror at substantially 100%; and (c) then extracting the amplified modelocked pulse from the resonator by applying a second constant voltage to said electro-optical device and maintaining an effective reflectivity of the second mirror at substantially 0%.