976-nm passively mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser core-pumped by 915-nm semiconductor laser

In this paper, we demonstrate an all-normal dispersion (ANDi) femtosecond YDFL. The laser operates around 976 nm via single-clad single-mode core-pumped method, which could enhance the slope efficiency up to 19% compared to that of 14% via double-clad multi-mode pumped method. The pulse repetition rate is 44.3 MHz, and pulse energy is approximately 1 nJ. Through external cavity pulse compression by a pair of gratings, the pulse duration can be compressed to 250 fs, nearly transform-limited.