30 ps cavity-dumped pulses from an argon laser

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Abstract
The pulse characteristics of a mode-locked cavity-dumped argon laser have been investigated by autocorrelation of the pulses using two photon fluorescence, and (when operating at a 13 ns repetition rate) by cross correlation with a synchronously pumped dye laser. The system has been found to yield remarkably short duration pulses. In cavity-dumped operation at a repetition rate of 3.8 MHz, the laser generates pulses of approximately 30 ps duration and 2.5 kW peak power. It is suggested that the increased bandwidth of this laser compared with that of conventional mode-locked systems derives from self-phase modulation in the silica block of the cavity dumper.