High energy, sub-picosecond pulses from a Nd-doped double-clad fiber laser

Abstract We report on the generation of high energy sub-picosecond optical pulses at 1.065 μm wavelength from a Nd 3+ -doped double-clad fiber laser. The laser is passively mode-locked by nonlinear polarization evolution and produces, without any extra-cavity pulse compression, pulses with an energy content of 4 nJ and a pulse duration of 940 fs at a repetition rate of 17 MHz.