Abstract

Passive harmonic mode-locked laser diodes have been shown to generate pulses at THz repetition rates [1]. Such ultrafast lasers may find applications as local oscillator sources for mm-wave imaging, radio astronomy, and atmospheric sensing. Here, we report mode-locking frequencies of up to 2.1 THz obtained from novel compound- cavity laser diodes at λ= 0.86 μm, based on a construction proposed theoretically in [2, 3]. To our knowledge, this is the fastest pulse repetition rate reported from a mode-locked laser.

© 2000 IEEE