Over ~>90% of ultrafast science research and development is done with using ultrafast Ti:sapphire lasers, a technology developed nearly 20 years ago. The great advantages of Ti:sapphire lasers are that they are broadly tunable, can achieve very high power with good efficiency and excellent beam quality, while easily producing the shortest pulse durations of <10fs. However, one great disadvantage to date that has precluded more widespread technological and defense applications is the required expensive and bulky “pump” lasers required to power Ti:sapphire lasers – green (532nm) Nd:YAG lasers. In exciting recent research, KMLabs demonstrated the 1st direct diode-pumped ultrafast Ti:sapphire laser seed and now a full amplifier system can revolutionize ultrafast laser technology, greatly reducing the cost, size and operation costs.
Read more in "Direct diode pumped Ti:sapphire ultrafast regenerative amplifier system”, Optics Express 25, 3666 (2017) and "Direct diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser”, Optics Express 20, 13677 (2012)