A passively mode-locked solid-state laser is designed to emit a continuous-wave train (51, 52) of electromagnetic-radiation pulses, the fundamental repetition rate of the emitted pules exceeding 1 GHz, without Q-switching instabilities. The laser comprises an optical resonator (3.1), a solid-state laser gain element (2) place inside said optical resonator (3.1), means (1) for exciting said laser gain element (2) characterized by the effective wavelength, and means (4) for passive mode locking comprising a saturable absorber. The laser gain element (2) preferably consists of a material with a stimulated emission cross section exceeding 0.8x10-18 cm2 at the effective wavelength (Nd:YVO¿4?).The saturable absorber (4) is preferably a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) device. Even higher repetition rates are achieved by operating the laser in the soliton regime. For use in fiber-optical telecommunication, the laser wavelength is preferably shifted to 1.5 um by means of an optical parametric oscillator. It generates an average power or 100 mW in the (51, 52) fundamental spati al mode.
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