Compact sub-100-fs Nd:silicate laser

We present a compact Nd:silicate laser pumped by a single 1-W high-brightness commercial laser diode that generates pulses as short as 88 fs (nearly Fourier limited) when passively mode-locked with a saturable absorber mirror. We also tested a prismless cavity setup employing a single Gires–Tournois mirror, yielding 100-fs pulses. These setups are significantly simpler and more compact than those reported previously for short pulse Nd:silicate lasers.