Resonant saturable absorbers for dispersion compensation in compact femtosecond lasers

Saturable absorber mirrors (SAMs) have found widespread application in the generation of ultrashort optical pulses and are one of the driving forces behind the all-solid-state revolution in femtosecond optics. While the design of the absorption properties of SAMs and its influence on the stability of mode-locking has been thoroughly investigated in the recent years, its phase and dispersion properties have only found little attention. This paper disusses a resonant concept, simultaneously providing large amounts of saturable absorption and dispersion with unprecedented values up to the order of 0.01 ps . A theoretical framework for predicting the SAM properties from a few optical key properties is provided. Dispersive effects can also occur as a parasitic side effect in regular SAM designs. This aspect is addressed and designs which are particularly susceptible toward such unwanted effects are indicated.