Diode-pumped mode-locked Nd:glass lasers with an antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber

We demonstrate passively mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:glass lasers with different media such as silicate, phosphate, and fluorophosphate that are homogeneously or inhomogeneously broadened. An antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber starts and stabilizes the soliton mode-locked Nd:glass lasers, producing pulses as short as 130 fs at an average output power of 100 mW. With a cw Ti:sapphire pump laser we obtain pulses as short as 90 fs.