超短脉冲激光源在光纤通信、生物医学成像等方面具有重要的应用前景。半导体锁模激光器具有体积小、重量轻、效率高、价格便宜等一系列优点。因此半导体锁模激光器成为超短脉冲激光源的理想选择。通过对400 nm～2 μm范围各个波段半导体锁模激光器的最新研究报道进行分析和总结，全面介绍了半导体锁模激光器的研究进展。

Ultrashort-pulse lasers are attractive sources for a number of applications including optical fiber communication and biomedical imaging etc. Semiconductor mode-locked lasers are excellent candidates for ultrashort pulse generation due to their advantages in compactness, weight, energy efficiency and cost. We give a comprehensive introduction to the latest progress of semiconductor mode-locked lasers based on an overall review of recent research reports for the semiconductor mode-locked lasers operating at the wavelength range from 400 nm to 2 μm.