Multipulse operation of a Ti:sapphire laser mode locked by an ion-implanted semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror

Multipulse operation was demonstrated with a Ti:sapphire laser mode-locked by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Widely separated double, triple, and quadruple pulses with irregular spacing were observed. In addition, closely coupled states were also found that could be attributed to interplay between saturable absorber and filter losses, saturated gain and the coherent interaction of solitons. These observations, as well as the mechanisms in the transitions from single to multipulse states are explained within the framework of the generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation as the laser master equation.