Stable continuous-wave mode-locked laser from a 1645 nm Er:YAG ceramic oscillator

We demonstrate stable continuous-wave mode-locking (CWML) pulses around 1645nm by employing the home-made Er:YAG ceramic. By using a fiber laser and semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) with modulation depth of 1.2%, we get ML pulses with the output average power up to 815 mW, the pulse width shortened as ~4 ps, and the peak power of 1.8 kW. With the SESAM of modulation depth of 2.4%, the second-order harmonic ML pulses were also obtained. As far as we know, this is the first report of CWML from Er3+-doped ceramics and also the shortest pulse duration in Er3+-doped solid-state oscillators.