Tm:Sc₂SiO₅-based diode-pumped eye-safe ultrafast laser

We report a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Tm:Sc2SiO5 (Tm:SSO) laser for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The stable continuous-wave (CW) mode-locking is achieved with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). Operating at the eye-safe wavelength of 1967.7 nm, the pulsed laser delivers a pulse duration of 16.5 ps with an average output power of 207 mW. At a fundamental repetition frequency of 81 MHz, the signal-to-noise ratio is as high as 70 dB. These results demonstrate the great potential of Tm:SSO crystal for ultrashort pulse generation.