We demonstrated experimentally a synchronously pumped intracavity frequency-doubled femtosecond optical para- metric oscillator （OPO） using a periodically-poled lithium niobate （PPLN） as the nonlinear material in combination with a lithium triborate （LBO） as the doubling crystal. A Kerr-lens-mode-locked （KLM） Ti：sapphire oscillator at the wavelength of 790 nm was used as the pump source, which was capable of generating pulses with a duration as short as 117 fs. A tunable femtosecond laser covering the 624-672 nm range was realized by conveniently adjusting the OPO cavity length. A maximum average output power of 260 mW in the visible range was obtained at the pump power of 2.2 W, with a typical pulse duration of 205 fs assuming a sech2 pulse profile.
A diode-pumped picosecond mode-locked Yb：YAG ceramic laser is realized with a slope efficiency of 44%. Output power up to 1.04 W is obtained with pulse duration of 10.4 ps at central wavelength of 1 049.5 nm. The standard deviation of maximum output power instability is 0.00453.
We experimentally demonstrate a diode-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond laser with yb3＋-doped yttrium lanthanum oxide ceramic. Mode-locking is achieved by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, and intraeavity dispersion is compensated by a pair of SF6 prisms. Laser pulses as short as 357 fs at a central wavelength of 1 075 nm are obtained. The maximum average output power is 670 mW under 4.5 W of pumping power with a slope efficiency of 20%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the shortest pulse generated from Yb-doped yttrium lanthanum oxide ceramic lasers with a sub-500 fs pulse duration.
