Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser with a GaAs saturable absorber mirror

We report on a diode end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd: GdVO4 laser. By using a GaAs wafer simultaneously as the saturable absorber and the output coupler, stable continuous-wave mode locking was achieved. The pulse width was measured to be 18.9 picoseconds at a repetition rate of 370 MHz. The most remarkable property of the laser is that its repetition rate can be changed from 370 MHz to 3.348 GHz by simply changing the cavity length. An average output power of 3.46 W at a 3.348 GHz repetition rate was obtained with a 14 W pump power. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a passively mode-locked Nd : GdVO4 laser using a GaAs wafer as the saturable absorber.