A diode-pumped 1.5 μm waveguide laser mode-locked at 6.8 GHz by a quantum dot SESAM

Abstract

We report a passively mode-locked, diode-pumped waveguide laser operating in the 1.5 μm spectral region using a quantum dot semiconductor saturable absorber mirror as the saturable absorber element. A repetition rate of up to 6.8 GHz and an average power as high as 30 mW were obtained during mode-locked operation. A minimum pulse duration of 2.5 ps was produced at a wavelength of 1556 nm. The repetition rate of the source was tuned by more than 1 MHz by changing the pump power, demonstrating a possible route towards integrated pulse repetition rate stabilization.