Ultrashort pulse generation from 1.56 µm mode-locked VECSEL at room temperature

We report on a picosecond pulse source delivering near transform-limited pulses in the 1.55 µm wavelength region, based on an optically pumped InP-based mode locked Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL). The cavity combines two semiconductor elements, a gain structure which includes six strained InGaAlAs quantum wells and a hybrid metal-metamorphic Bragg bottom mirror bonded onto a CVD diamond substrate, and a single quantum well GaInNAs SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM). The laser operates at a repetition frequency of 2 GHz and emits near-transform-limited 1.7 ps pulses with an average output power of 15 mW at room temperature, using 1.7 W pump power at 980 nm. The RF line width of the free running laser has been measured to be less than 1 kHz.