Q-Switching Pulse Operation in 1.5-μm Region Using Copper Nanoparticles as Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate a passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser （EDFL） using a copper nanoparticle （CuNP） thin film as the saturable absorber in a ring cavity. A stable Q-switched pulse operation is observed as the CuNP saturable absorber （SA） is introduced in the cavity. The pulse repetition rate of the EDFL is observed to be proportional to the pump power, and is limited to 101.2kHz by the maximum pump power of 113.7mW. On the other hand, the pulse width reduces from 10.19μs to 4.28μs as the pump power is varied from 26.1 mW to 113.7mW. The findings suggest that CuNP SA could be useful as a potential saturable absorber for the development of the robust, compact, efficient and low cost Q-switched fiber laser operating at 1.5-μm region.

Q-Switched Ytterbium-Doped Fiber Laser Using Black Phosphorus as Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate a Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser （YDFL） using a newly developed multi-layer black phosphorous （BP） saturable absorber （SA）. The BP SA is prepared by mechanically exfoliating a BP crystal and sticking the acquired BP flakes onto a scotch tape. A small piece of the tape is then placed between two ferrules and incorporated in a YDFL cavity to achieve a stable Q-switched operation in a 1.0 μm region. The laser has a pump threshold of 55.1 mW, a pulse repetition rate that is tunable from 8.2 to 32.9 kHz, and the narrowest pulse width of 10.8 μs. The highest pulse energy of 328 nJ is achieved at the pump power of 97.6 mW. Our results show that multi-layer BP is a promising SA for Q-switching laser operation.

Transition Metal Dichalcogenides(WS2 and MoS2)Saturable Absorbers for Mode-Locked Erbium-Doped Fiber Lasers

We demonstrate an ultrafast fiber laser based on transition metal dichalcogenide materials which are tungsten disulfide (WS2) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as saturable absorber (SA). These materials are fabricated via a simple drop-casting method. By employing WS2, we obtain a stable harmonic mode-locking at the threshold pump power of 184 mW, and the generated soliton pulse has 3.48 MHz of repetition rate. At the maximum pump power of 250 mW, we also obtain a small value of pulse duration, 2.43 ps with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 57 dB. For MoS2 SA, the pulse is generated at 105 mW pump power with repetition rate of 1.16 MHz. However, the pulse duration cannot be detected by the autocorrelator device as the pulse duration recorded is 468 ns, with the SNR value of 35 dB.

Nanosecond Pulse Generation with Silver Nanoparticle Saturable Absorber

Nanosecond pulse generation in an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) passively mode-locked by a silver nanoparticle(SNP)-based saturable absorber(SA) is experimentally demonstrated. The SA is fabricated by depositing a nanosized SNP layer onto the surface of polyvinyl alcohol film through the thermal evaporation process. By inserting the SA into an EDFL cavity, stable mode-locked operation is achieved at 1561.5 nm with the maximum pulse energy up to 52.3 nJ. The laser operates at a pulse repetition frequency of 1.0 MHz with a pulse width of 202 ns. These results suggest that SNPs could be developed as an effective SA for mode-locking pulse generation.

Performance Comparison of Mode-Locked Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser with Nonlinear Polarization Rotation and Saturable Absorber Approaches

A mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is demonstrated using a highly concentrated erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as the gain medium in a ring configuration with and without a saturable absorber (SA).Without the SA,the proposed laser generates soliton pulses with a repetition rate of 12 MHz,pulse width of 1.11 ps and energy pulse of 1.6pJ.By incorporating SA in the ring cavity,the optical output of the laser changes from soliton to stretched pulses due to the slight change in the group velocity dispersion.With the SA,a cleaner pulse is obtained with a repetition rate of 11.3 MHz,a pulse width of 0.58ps and a pulse energy of 2.3pJ.

Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser with low pumping threshold using graphene saturable absorber

We propose a Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser （EDFL） with a threshold pumping power as low as 7.4 mW, and demonstrate using graphene polyvinyl alcohol （PVA） thin film as a passive saturable absorber （SA）. The SA is fabricated from graphene flakes, which is synthesized by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite at room temperature in 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution. The flakes are mixed with PVA solution to produce a thin film, which is then sandwiched between two ferrules to form a SA and integrated in the EDFL ring cavity to generate a stable Q-switched pulse train. The pulse train operates at 1560 nm with a threshold pump power of 7.4 roW. At maximum 1480 nm pump power of 33.0 roW, the EDFL generates an optical pulse train with a repetition rate of 27.0 kHz and pulse width of 3.56/as. The maximum pulse energy of 39.4 nJ is obtained at a pump power of 14.9 roW. This laser can be used as a simple and low-cost light source for metrology, environmental sensing, and biomedical diagnostics.