Abstract

Laser mode-locking is powerful enough to generate ultrashort laser pulses, but, up to now, saturable absorption was considered the basis for passive mode-locking. Here we report on a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser, using transient grating induced in GaAs. Our laser differs from other passively mode-locked lasers in the following respects: (1) we replaced a saturable absorber with a solid-state material to make the laser more convenient to use. (2) Mode-locking was achieved by transient grating rather than by saturable absorption. This novel scheme of mode-locking may be of benefit in obtaining high-quality ultrashort pulses.

© 1991 Optical Society of America