A few-cycle Cr/sup 4+/:YAG laser

Summary form only given. Kerr-lens mode locked Cr/sup 4+/:YAG lasers are used to generate ultrashort optical pulses near 1.5 /spl mu/m because of their large spectral bandwidth. Pulses as short as 43 fs and 44 fs self-started by a saturable absorber mirror have been generated from Cr/sup 4+/:YAG lasers using fused silica prism pairs for group velocity dispersion compensation.