Diode-pumped Yb:LLF laser with multi-watt SESAM mode locking and broad CW tuning

We demonstrate a diode-pumped Yb:LLF laser that combines multi-watt semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) mode locking with record continuous-wave (CW) tuning. Using a compact cavity pumped by a single-emitter 10 W multimode diode at 960 nm, the laser provides up to 3.2 W CW output with a tuning range from 996 to 1073 nm and a slope efficiency of 42%. In mode-locked operation, it delivers up to 2.8 W of average power with 180 fs pulses (10.9 nJ at 257.5 MHz) in a high-power regime, and up to 570 mW with 110 fs pulses (2.6 nJ at 214.1 MHz) in a short-pulse regime. Compared to previous work, this represents more than an order-of-magnitude increase in usable mode-locked power and pulse energy together with a substantially extended CW tuning span, and we outline straightforward routes to further broaden the tuning, shorten the pulses, and scale the usable average power. Taken together with earlier results on Yb:YLF, these findings indicate that Yb:LLF can serve as a competitive sister host and a strong candidate for future high-power and cryogenic Yb-based laser and amplifier studies.