Passively modelocked electrically pumped VECSELs

In modelocked electrically pumped VECSELs (EP-VECSELs) the gain saturation strongly influences the pulse formation. Here we present a detailed gain characterization of EP-VECSELs as published the first time in [1]. The spectral gain-distribution and the gain saturation behavior of two devices with different field-enhancement in the quantum-well gain layers are investigated. Comparing spectral bandwidth, small-signal gain and saturation fluence of the three devices, we chose the most suitable for modelocking experiments. Using a low-saturation fluence SESAM we have generated 9.5-ps-pulses with an average output-power of 7.6 mW at 1.4 GHz repetition-rate, which have been the shortest pulses from an EP-VECSEL to date [1].

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