High power mode-locked compound laser using a tapered semiconductor amplifier

A new type of a high power mode-locked laser, based on a tapered stripe traveling wave semiconductor amplifier and an additional separate narrow stripe gain element is described. Active mode-locking, achieved by RF modulation of the narrow stripe, resulted in pulses as short as 12 ps. Separately, maximum peak powers of 16 W and pulse energies above 0.5 nJ were observed.<
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