Sub-100-ps amplitude-modulation mode-locked Tm-Ho : BaY2F8 laser at 2.06 mu m

We report the generation of sub-100-ps pulse trains near the 2.06-mum wavelength in an actively mode-locked diode-pumped Tm-Ho:BaYF laser operating at room temperature. Transform-limited, 97-ps Gaussian pulses at a 100-MHz repetition rate with an average power in excess of 20 mW and with a carrier wavelength tunable by similar to50 nm near 2.066 mum are demonstrated. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.