Abstract

Cr³⁺:LiCAF is a very promising material for compact femtosecond laser sources because of its low quantum defect, a broadband emission range around 800 nm, and an absorption band in a spectral range where high-brightness laser diodes are available. For applications such as seeding, ultra high resolution optical coherence tomography, or metrology a compact replacement for the Ti:sapphire oscillator would be highly desirable. Although the gain bandwidth of Cr³⁺:LiCAF supports pulses substantially shorter than 10 fs, the shortest pulse width so far demonstrated from a mode-locked Cr³⁺:LiCAF -Laser is 19 fs [2]. It has been suggested that higher order dispersion and the strong Raman-effect occurring in Colquiirite crystals [2, 3, 4] which leads to a red shift of the spectrum each pass through the gain medium is limiting short pulse generation.

© 2002 Optical Society of America