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The successful demonstration of Q-switched and mode-locked fiber-laser operations using a topological insulator (TI) as saturable absorber (SA) has opened an application window besides TI's originally expected features. However, to date, all-solid-state mode-locked lasers base on TISAs are still unavailable and became a desired goal not only due to their application as light sources, but also because of providing a way for deeper investigation of the nature of ultrafast dynamics present in TISAs. In this paper, the realization of a continuous-wave mode-locked all-solid-state laser with a repetition rate of around 1 GHz is reported using a high-quality TI SA mirror (TI-SAM) with ultralow saturation intensity, fabricated by a spin coating-co-reduction approach. An output power of 180 mW and pulse duration of 8 ps are observed. In addition, a 61 dB pulse-train quality from the radio frequency spectrum of mode-locked operation prove the feasibility of the proposed laser. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of a mode-locked solid-state laser based on TIs. In addition, this paper shows that the use of TISAs is a promising option for the realization of scaling solid-state mode-locked lasers with higher repetition rates, reaching order of GHz.

We reported a compact α-BaTeMo2O9 Raman laser driven by a pulsed laser diode (LD) pumped Nd:YAG/ Cr4+:YAG laser for the first time. A maximum pulse energy of 1.07 mJ at 1177.8 nm was obtained with the absorbed LD pump energy of 10.63 mJ, giving an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 10% and a slope efficiency of 13.8%. The pulse output characteristic of the Raman laser was analyzed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A diode-end-pumped Q-switched mode-locking Nd:GdVO4 laser operating at 1.34 μm with an acousto-optical (AO) Q-switch in a compact V-type cavity was realized in our experiment for the first time. When the AO Q-switch repetition rate was 10 kHz, the maximum average output power of 750 mW and the pulse energy of 75 μJ were obtained at the maximum incident pump power of 9W. The mode-locking modulation depth of about 100% was obtained at certain pump power over the threshold. The mode-locked pulse inside in the Q-switched pulse had a repetition rate of 341 MHz, and its average pulsewidth was estimated to be about 350 ps. A developed rate equation model for the Q-switched and mode-locked lasers with an AO Q-switch were proposed by using the hyperbolic secant functional methods. The results of numerical calculations of the rate equations were in good agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alternately intermittent oscillation technique was proposed and an intermittent oscillation dual-wavelength diode side-pumped solid-state laser has been set up. The model of rate equations of intermittent oscillation dual-wavelength laser has been considered. By this means, the population inversion was distributed efficiently, mode competition of both laser lines can be avoided, the effect resulted from the accuracy of the coating process can be reduced and the stable output of dual-wavelength was easily obtained. What is more, for different operation condition, the ratio of the output powers can be controlled by changing the delay time, so it is very beneficial to all-solid-state RGB lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have demonstrated a self-staring passively continuous-wave mode-locked diode end-pumped Nd:YLF laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror of single-quantum-well (In0.25Ga0.75As) grown by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition technique at low temperature. The saturable absorber was used as nonlinear absorber and output coupler simultaneously. Stable pulse duration of 3 ps has been achieved at the repetition rate of 98 MHz. The average output power was 530 mW at 1053 nm under the incident pump power of 10 W, corresponding to the peak power of 1.8 kW and pulse energy of 5.4 nJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diode-end-pumped Nd:LGGG dual-wavelength synchronously mode-locked laser operation at 1.06 μm was demonstrated. The maximum average output power of 475 mW was obtained. The two wavelengths were simultaneous mode-locked at 1060.9 and 1062.7 nm with the pulse duration of 6.3 ps. A laser frequency beat was observed on top of the autocorrelation trace in the operation, corresponding to the 0.48 THz signal of stationary wave interference pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]