Kerr-lens mode-locked, diode-pumped Yb,Gd:YAP laser generating 23 fs pulses

We report on the generation of sub-30 fs pulses from a diode-pumped Yb,Gd:YAP laser. Using soft-aperture Kerr-lens mode-locking, soliton pulses as short as 23 fs were achieved at 1082.3 nm, with an average output power of 45 mW at a repetition rate of 67.25 MHz. The mode-locked laser also produced a maximum average output power of 101 mW at 1056.5 nm with a slightly longer pulse duration of 34 fs, corresponding to a peak power of 38.9 kW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of Kerr-lens mode-locked operation in a diode-pumped Yb,Gd:YAP laser, with the shortest pulses ever reported from any Yb 3+ -doped perovskite-type crystal.