Numerical analysis of fast saturable absorber mode-locked Yb(3+) lasers under large modulation depth.

Numerical analysis of fast saturable absorber mode-locked Yb(3+)-doped solid state lasers is reported. The analysis includes a special case in which the spectral bandwidth of the short pulse is larger than the fluorescence bandwidth of the gain material. The relationship between the available shortest pulse duration and modulation depth for a standard bulk and thin disk laser geometries with several gain materials are shown. The characteristic phenomena observed in our previous Kerr-lens mode-locked laser experiments were reproduced in the simulation.