Ultrafast, solid-state oscillators based on broadband, multisite Yb-doped crystals

A detailed performance comparison of new interesting Yb-doped crystals in the same oscillator setup, with a single-mode fiber-coupled diode laser pump, is reported. We intended to assess the shortest pulses achievable with available SESAM technology, running a fair comparison with laser crystals Yb:KLuW, Yb:SSO, Yb:CALGO, Yb:CALYO and Yb:CaF2, very likely including the most promising choices for the next generation of commercial bulk ultrafast solid-state systems. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America