Fully integrated Kerr-lens mode-locked ceramic laser.

A 2.4 GHz Kerr-lens mode-locked laser, employing Yb:Y2O3 ceramic as the gain medium, has been fully integrated into a compact 61 mL volume. By optimizing the pump structure, all optical components of the laser are confined within a 34 × 78 mm2 area, enabling effective temperature control. Owing to the temperature control, the repetition-rate drift of the laser in free-running mode can be as low as ∼10-8 with a timing jitter of 13 fs. Furthermore, this laser operates with a low electrical power consumption of only 4 W. All these attributes make this Kerr-lens mode-locked laser a portable low-noise signal source. In addition, the laser operates around the central wavelength of 1075 nm and has a spectral width of 11.2 nm. The relative power stability of the laser in 2 h is within 0.4%.