Abstract

Recent development in Kerr-lens mode- locked solid state lasers has shown that Kerr-lens mode locking is an effective and stable method for producing femtosecond wavelength-tunable laser pulses. It is highly desirable to apply the Kerr-lens mechanism to dye lasers—the most widely used tunable layers for scientific research. We report our research advances in Kerr-lens mode- locked dye lasers. The report includes not only the design and construction, and the characteristics of the laser, but also an experimental investigation of the self-starting and the stability issues. Experimental data are compared with published theories of passive modelocking.

© 1994 Optical Society of America