Abstract

The performance of ultrafast semiconductor disk lasers rapidly advanced over the last decades. The strong interest from industry for inexpensive, compact and reliable ultrafast laser sources in the picosecond and femtosecond domain has driven this technology towards commercial products. Frequency metrology and biomedical applications greatly benefit from sub-200 femtosecond pulse durations with peak powers in the kilowatt range. The aim of this review is to briefly describe the application potential and to give an overview of the current status of modelocked semiconductor disk lasers. Particular focus is placed on the ongoing efforts to achieve shorter pulses with higher peak powers.

© 2017 Optical Society of America