Diode-Pumped Soliton and Non-Soliton Mode-Locked Yb:GYSO Lasers

Diode-pumped soliton and non-soliton mode-locked Yb:(Gd_1−xY_x)₂SiO₅ (x = 0.5) lasers are demonstrated. Pulses as short as 1.4 ps are generated for the soliton mode−locked operation, with a pair of SF10 prisms as the negative dispersion elements. The central wavelength is 1056 nm and the repetition rate is 48 MHz. For the non-soliton mode locking, the output power could achieve ∼1.2 W, and the pulse width is about 20 ps. The critical pulse energy in the soliton-mode locked operation against the Q-switched mode locking is much lower than the critical pulse energy in the non-soliton mode-locked operation.