Diode pumped and mode-locked Yb:GdYAG ceramic lasers

We have successfully fabricated a new type of ytterbium-doped yttrium gadolinium aluminum garnet (Yb:GdYAG) laser ceramic using the solid-state reactive sintering method under vacuum condition. Continuous wave (CW) laser operation of the 5.0 at.% Yb:GdYAG ceramic laser has achieved 4.27 W output power with 26.7% slope efficiency. Passive mode-locking properties of the ceramic was also firstly demonstrated with a semiconductor saturable absorbing mirror (SESAM). Stable mode-locked pulses with 4.4 ps pulse width and a maximum output power of 3.75 W at the wavelength of 1030.4 nm have been generated.