This paper will describe the current state-of-the-art in commercial mode-locked Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VECSEL) and demonstrate their efficacy in key applications. Based on indium gallium arsenide quantum well gain structures, our systems operate between 920 nm – 1050 nm with >1 W output powers, 200 MHz pulse repetition rate and <1 ps pulse duration. Crucially, the development issues that have been overcome to bring this promising technology to market will be discussed. These include: thermal management challenges, electronic control system development and robust mechanical design requirements. Having the potential to replace more conventional titanium sapphire laser technology where wavelength flexibility can be traded off against a significantly lower cost point and form factor, we will discuss the use of VECSELs in key applications such as nonlinear microscopy.
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