Generation of 30 femtosecond, 900-970 nm pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser far off the gain peak

A 58 MHz femtosecond Ti:sapphire oscillator is optimized for long wavelength operation beyond 900 nm. Sub 30 fs, approximately 3 nJ pulses with a bandwidth exceeding 20 THz are realized for central wavelengths 900 nm < or = lambda < or = 960 nm. This laser opens up new perspectives for the sensitive time-resolved spectroscopy of various semiconductor nanostructures. Moreover, its second harmonic serves as a source of visible multi-milliwatt femtosecond pulses tunable around 475 nm.