High peak power picosecond pulse generation from AlGaAs external cavity mode‐locked semiconductor laser and traveling‐wave amplifier

Thin active region single stripe aluminum gallium arsenide traveling‐wave amplifiers have been used to generate and amplify 15 ps optical pulses to nearly 50 mW average powers and to peak powers in excess of 3 W. No appreciable temporal pulse distortion is observed after amplification. These peak power levels should prove to be sufficient to induce nonlinear optical effects in fibers.