High-power diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked bulk Yb:KGW laser

A high-power (>1  W) pure Kerr-lens mode-locked bulk Yb:KGW laser with multimode fiber-coupled diode pumping was demonstrated. The laser delivered 240 fs pulses with 2.3 W of average output power at 86.8 MHz, corresponding to 97 kW of peak power and 26 nJ of pulse energy. The shortest generated pulse duration was 120 fs with 1.2 W of output power. The self-starting regime was also observed with a background continuous-wave component. The laser exhibited more than an order of magnitude higher output power when compared to the previously reported bulk Yb-ion-doped lasers with multimode laser diode pumping systems.