Intracavity frequency doubling in a Ti:sapphire laser: generation of 14-fs pulses at 416 nm

We demonstrate the use of intracavity frequency doubling in a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser to generate pulses as short as 14 fs. We use a 100-microm-thick lithium triborate (LiB(3)O(5)) crystal in a standard Ti:sapphire laser cavity for the frequency doubling. The average blue output power is 30 mW in each of two beams directly from the laser and 11 mW after compression. The repetition rate is 91 MHz, and the spectral bandwidth is a near-transform-limited 19.2 nm centered at 416 nm. To our knowledge, these results represent the shortest pulse duration yet demonstrated in the blue region of the spectrum.