Mode locking of Ceramic Nd: YAG with graphene as a saturable absorber

The mode-locking of a ceramic Nd: YAG solid-state laser (SSL) with solution processed graphene as the saturable absorber(SA) was demonstrated. Transform-limited pulses of 4 ps with an averagepower of 100 mW centered at 1064 nm were generated, for anon-dispersion compensated Nd: YAG SSL. Z-scan studies revealed thatthe graphene SA had a saturation intensity of 0.87 MW cm^-2 and a normalized modulation depth of 17 %. The results illustrate the potential of using graphene as a mode locker for SSLs.

Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 031106 (2010); doi:10.1063/1.3292018