We demonstrate a novel low-cost, low-noise, tunable, high-peak-power, ultrafast laser system based on a SESAM-modelocked, solid-state Yb tungstate laser plus spectral broadening via a microstructured fiber followed by pulse compression. The spectral selection, tuning, and pulse compression are performed with a simple prism compressor. The spectral broadening and fiber parameters are chosen to insure low-noise and short pulse operation of the tunable output. The long-term stable output pulses are tunable from 800 to 1200 nm, with a peak power up to 30 kW and pulse duration down to 26 fs. We demonstrate the generation of an output beam with 30 fs pulsewidth and multiple colors in infrared. In particular, we compressed selected spectral slices centered at 960 and 1100 nm suitable for imaging with green fluorescent protein and red dyes. Such a multicolor, 30 fs laser is ideally suited for simultaneous multispectral multiphoton imaging. This system is attractive for variety of applications including multiphoton (TPE, SHG, THG, CARS) and multimodal microscopy, nanosurgery, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Such system is simpler, lower-cost, and much easier to use (fully turn-key) compared to a currently available solutions for near-infrared ultrashort pulses, typically a Ti:sapphire laser-pumped OPO.
