575-fs passively mode-locked Yb:CaF2 ceramic laser*

A Yb-doped CaF2 transparent ceramics was successfully fabricated by the hot-pressed method and its laser characteristics were studied. A broad tuning performance and mode-locked laser operation were demonstrated in this ceramics for the first time, to our best knowledge. A 60-nm continuous-wavelength tunable laser from 1019 nm to 1079 nm was obtained with a birefringent filter. By employing a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror without additional dispersion compensation elements, a continuous-wave mode-locked laser with pulse duration as short as 575 fs was delivered, at a central wavelength of 1048.5 nm. The oscillator is operated under a repetition rate of 55 MHz. These results indicate that the Yb:CaF2 transparent ceramics is an ideal candidate for the development of ultrafast lasers in the near-infrared regime.