Pulsed diode-pumped additive-pulse mode-locked high-peak-power Nd:YLF laser

Intense ultrashort pulses are generated in an additive-pulse mode-locked, amplitude-feedback-controlled Nd:YLF laser pumped by quasi-cw laser diodes with a 30-Hz repetition rate. Pulse trains are produced that consist of approximately 600 single pulses of 2.1-ps duration and less, similar1-microJ energy. The peak intensity is less, similar0.5 MW, and a stability corresponding to a standard deviation of ~1.3% is measured. The optical efficiency of this all-solid-state mode-locked laser is determined to be ~1%.