Ti:Sapphire lasers have become prominent in the field of ultrafast lasers and oscillators due to their broad emission bandwidth and the ability to minimize opto-thermal effects over a wide range of operating parameters.  This article examines the construction of a high-power Ti:Sapphire laser from the ground up.  Mode-locked lasers are discussed, as are single-pass, multi-pass, and regenerative amplifiers.  The use of pulse pickers to help generate higher pulse energies is also discussed.

In order to build high-average-power Ti:Sapphire lasers, high-quality high-average-power green pump lasers are required as pumps for the final amplification stage.  This article examines the main requirements on the pump lasers, and also discusses the relative merits of Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF systems.