ACTIVE-PASSIVE MODE-LOCKED ND-YAG LASER WITH A SATURABLE ABSORBER CENTERED IN A FABRY-PEROT CAVITY

Abstract

We have found that the use of a saturable dye cell, placed at the center of a Fabry-Perot cavity, produced more stable mode-locked pulses without satellite pulses than a contacted dye cell configuration in active-passive mode locking of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The mode-locked pulse width was measured to be 23 ps and the energy stability of its frequency-doubled output was within +/- 3%. The displacement of the dye cell position from the exact center of the cavity was found not to be critical.