Diode-pumped passively mode-locked multiwatt Nd:GdVO 4 laser with a saturable Bragg reflector

We report a first demonstration, to our knowledge, of a cw passively mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser (λ = 1063 nm). A relaxed saturable Bragg reflector was used. The laser generates pulses of 9.2 ps at a repetition rate of 119 MHz. As much as 5.4 W of average power was realized with a slope efficiency of 25.7%.