Pulse shortening of actively mode-locked diode lasers by wavelength tuning

Abstract
The pulse width of an actively mode-locked GaAs/AlGaAs laser diode in an external cavity configuration is continuously decreased from 22 to 7 ps by tuning the laser wavelength from the gain maximum close to the high-energy cutoff of the gain profile. This wavelength-dependent pulse shortening can be explained by the dynamics of the excited electron-hole plasma.