Sub-150-fs pulses from an optically pumped broadband modelocked integrated external-cavity surface emitting laser

With a modelocked integrated external-cavity surface emitting laser (MIXSEL) we achieved a pulse duration of 144 fs. The MIXSEL belongs to the family of optically pumped semiconductor disk lasers. The MIXSEL operates at a center wavelength of 1033 nm with a 13-nm full width at half maximum optical bandwidth, at a pulse repetition rate of 2.73 GHz, and at an average output power of 30 mW. This new record result was obtained with an optimized multipair dielectric top-coating, a large bandgap material for strain compensation, a nonperiodic InGaAs quantum well gain structure, and an improved thermal management.