Department of Physics2024-11-0920190146-959210.1364/OL.44.0046622-s2.0-85072761405http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.44.004662https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/11304We report the shortest femtosecond pulses directly generated from a solid-state laser that is mode locked by using a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA). In the experiments, we used a 660 nm diode-pumped, low-threshold extended-cavity Cr:LiSAF laser operating around 850 nm with a repetition rate of 47.9 MHz. The SWCNT-SA mode-locked Cr:LiSAF laser produced 21 fs pulses with a time-bandwidth product of 0.56 by using only 210 mW of pump power. Pump-probe spectroscopy measurements showed that the SWCNT-SA exhibited saturable absorption with slow and fast decay times of 2.7 ps and 0.4 ps. The single-pass modulation depth and saturation fluence of the SWCNT-SA were further determined as 0.3% and 45 mu J/cm(2) at the pump wavelength of 850 nm.OpticsJournal Article1539-4794488503500010Q28091