Picosecond Diode-Pumped Laser System with 9.3-W Average Power and 2.3-mJ Pulse Energy.

We describe a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser that is suitable for micromachining applications and is capable of generating 2.3-mJ pulses at a 4-kHz pulse repetition frequency. The output pulse duration is 20.

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10-W average power in a diffraction-limited beam.

We present a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10.7-W average output power in a diffraction-limited beam. Stable self-starting mode locking with a pulse duration of 16 ps and a pulse energy of 120 nJ is obtained with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror.

Optical parametric oscillator with a 10-GHz repetition rate and 100-mW average output power in the spectral region near 1.5 mum.

We demonstrate a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator that emits picosecond pulses at an ~1.55-mum wavelength with a repetition rate as a high as 10 GHz and as much as 100 mW of average power. It is pumped with a diode-pumped passively mode-locked 10-GHz Nd:YVO(4) laser.

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy with a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser.

We demonstrate the acquisition of high-quality two-photon fluorescence microscopy images using an all-solid-state self-mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser. We contrast the performance of the two-photon technique with single-photon confocal fluorescence microscopy images taken with an argon-ion laser. Examples of improved depth penetration and reduced dye bleaching are presented.

Self-mode-locked diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser producing 34-fs pulses at 42-mW average power.

We describe a self-mode-locked diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser producing almost-bandwidth-limited tunable pulses of 34-fs duration at an average power of 42 mW. We discuss the capacity of this laser to produce even-shorter pulses and how their quality may be improved by reduction of pulse-duration limiting effects.