scholarly journals Ultrafast Fiber Lasers with Low-Dimensional Saturable Absorbers: Status and Prospects

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3676
Author(s):  
Pulak Chandra Debnath ◽  
Dong-Il Yeom

Wide-spectral saturable absorption (SA) in low-dimensional (LD) nanomaterials such as zero-, one-, and two-dimensional materials has been proven experimentally with outstanding results, including low saturation intensity, deep modulation depth, and fast carrier recovery time. LD nanomaterials can therefore be used as SAs for mode-locking or Q-switching to generate ultrafast fiber laser pulses with a high repetition rate and short duration in the visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared wavelength regions. Here, we review the recent development of emerging LD nanomaterials as SAs for ultrafast mode-locked fiber laser applications in different dispersion regimes such as anomalous and normal dispersion regimes of the laser cavity operating in the near-infrared region, especially at ~1550 nm. The preparation methods, nonlinear optical properties of LD SAs, and various integration schemes for incorporating LD SAs into fiber laser systems are introduced. In addition to these, externally (electrically or optically) controlled pulsed fiber laser behavior and other characteristics of various LD SAs are summarized. Finally, the perspectives and challenges facing LD SA-based mode-locked ultrafast fiber lasers are highlighted.

Nanophotonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benhai Wang ◽  
Haobin Han ◽  
Lijun Yu ◽  
Yueyue Wang ◽  
Chaoqing Dai

Abstract Recently, in addition to exploring the application of new saturable absorber devices in fiber lasers, soliton dynamics has also become a focus of current research. In this article, we report an ultrashort pulse fiber laser based on VSe2/GO nanocomposite and verify the formation process of soliton and soliton molecules by the numerical simulation. The prepared VSe2/GO-based device shows excellent saturable absorption characteristics with a modulation depth of 14.3% and a saturation absorption intensity of 0.93 MW/cm2. The conventional soliton is obtained with pulse width of 573 fs, which is currently the narrowest pulse width based on VSe2-related material, and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 60.4 dB. In addition, the soliton molecules are realized based on the VSe2/GO for the first time and have a pulse interval of ∼2.2 ps. We study the soliton dynamics through numerical simulation and reveal that before the formation of the soliton, it undergoes multiple nonlinear stages, such as soliton mode-locking, soliton splitting, and soliton oscillation. Furthermore, the results of numerical simulation are agreed well with the experimental data. These results indicate that the VSe2/GO might be another promising saturable absorber material for ultrafast photonics, and deepen the understanding of soliton dynamics in ultrafast fiber lasers.


Author(s):  
Jianwei Hu ◽  
Rong Huang ◽  
Ziqiao Wei ◽  
Minru Wen ◽  
Fugen Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Two-dimensional materials have drawn great interest for their applications in mode-locking owning to their unique optical nonlinearities. However, most of these 2D materials are semi-conductor. In this study, a new kind of semimetal Indium bismuth (InBi) is reported which is a topological nodal-line semimetal with exotic physical properties. The InBi nanomaterials was prepared through liquid phase exfoliation method with average thickness of 32.8 nm. The saturable absorption property was measured and passive mode-locking operation was achieved successfully in Er-doped fiber laser. It exhibits a modulation depth of 3.21%, a saturable intensity of 100 MW/cm2, and a pulse width about 859.97 fs corresponding to the central wavelength of 1562.27 nm and 3-dB bandwidth of 2.98 nm. The experimental results open a new avenue for the use of semimetals InBi nanomaterials in lasers and photonics applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin-Wen Lee ◽  
Chien-Ming Chen ◽  
Wei-Hsiang Chuang ◽  
Ching-Yi Cho ◽  
Cheng-Hsien Yu ◽  
...  

AbstractMode-locked and Q-switched pulsed fiber laser sources with wavelengths of 1.55 μm are widely used in various fields. Gold nanorods (GNRs) have been applied in biomedicine and optics owing to their biocompatibility, easy fabrication, and unique optical properties. This paper presents the analysis of a saturable absorber based on a colloidal gold nanorod (GNR) thin film for dual-function passively mode-locked and Q-switched 1.55-μm fiber lasers. The colloidal GNR thin film possesses superior properties such as a wide operating wavelength range, large nonlinear absorption coefficient, and a picosecond-order recovery time. Its modulation depth and saturation intensity at 1.55 μm are 7.8% and 6.55 MW/cm2, respectively. Passive mode-locked or Q-switched laser operation is achieved by changing the number of GNR thin-film layers. The advantages of these high-quality GNRs in mode-locked and Q-switched fiber lasers with record-high slope efficiency are verified by conducting comprehensive material and laser dynamic analyses. The self-starting mode-locked fiber laser with an efficiency as high as 24.91% and passively Q-switched fiber laser with the maximum energy of 0.403 μJ are successfully demonstrated. This paper presents the novel demonstration of reconfigurable mode-locked and Q-switched all-fiber lasers by incorporating colloidal GNR thin films.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpan Dutta

Ultra short pulse fiber lasers are widely used in many photonic systems for industrial, biomedical and scientific applications. Popularity of these lasers rapidly developed due to increment in demand of shorter pulses for various applications like communication, ophthalmology, micromachining, medical imaging and precision metrology. Pulsed fiber laser can produce ultra short pulses in order of pico or femto second. Mode locking technique is widely used in rare earth doped fiber lasers to produce such ultra short pulses of light. In this paper, pulsed operation of fiber laser was studied experimentally at 1 micron region. Experiment on pulsed fiber laser has been done using ytterbium (Yb) doped active fiber. Using the principle of passive mode locking, a 2.3 pico-second pulse was produced at 1064nm wavelength. A semiconductor saturable absorber mirror was used to mode lock the laser. The spectral domain data showed that the pulse was not Fourier transform limited which means the pulse was chirped. Chirped pulse amplification systems exploit this pulse characteristic for power scaling of ultra-short pico- second to femto-second pulses.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2367
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Muhanad Fadhel ◽  
Norazida Ali ◽  
Haroon Rashid ◽  
Nurfarhana Mohamad Sapiee ◽  
Abdulwahhab Essa Hamzah ◽  
...  

Rhenium Disulfide (ReS2) has evolved as a novel 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material which has promising applications in optoelectronics and photonics because of its distinctive anisotropic optical properties. Saturable absorption property of ReS2 has been utilized to fabricate saturable absorber (SA) devices to generate short pulses in lasers systems. The results were outstanding, including high-repetition-rate pulses, large modulation depth, multi-wavelength pulses, broadband operation and low saturation intensity. In this review, we emphasize on formulating SAs based on ReS2 to produce pulsed lasers in the visible, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelength regions with pulse durations down to femtosecond using mode-locking or Q-switching technique. We outline ReS2 synthesis techniques and integration platforms concerning solid-state and fiber-type lasers. We discuss the laser performance based on SAs attributes. Lastly, we draw conclusions and discuss challenges and future directions that will help to advance the domain of ultrafast photonic technology.


Nanophotonics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2603-2639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianqian Hao ◽  
Cong Wang ◽  
Wenxin Liu ◽  
Xiaoqin Liu ◽  
Jie Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractLow-dimensional (LD) materials have originated a range of innovative applications in photonics and optoelectronics owning to their advantages of ultrafast carrier response and distinct nonlinear saturable absorption properties. In particular, these emerging LD materials including zero-, one-, and two-dimensional materials have recently been utilized for short and ultrashort pulse laser generation in the visible, near infrared, and mid-infrared wavelength regions. Here, we review recent progress demonstrating the application of LD materials as versatile, wideband saturable absorbers for Q-switching and mode-locking in all-solid-state lasers. The laser performance in operating wavelength, output power, pulse width, repetition rate, and pulse energy is reviewed. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives are suggested.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3203
Author(s):  
Chen Cheng ◽  
Ziqi Li ◽  
Ningning Dong ◽  
Rang Li ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
...  

Defect-induced phenomena in 2D materials has received increasing interest among researchers due to the novel properties correlated with precise modification of materials. We performed a study of the nonlinear saturable absorption of the boron-atom-vacancy defective hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) thin film at a wavelength of ~1 μm and its applications in ultrafast laser generation. The h-BN is with wide band gap of ~6 eV. Our investigation shows that the defective h-BN has a wide absorption band from visible to near infrared regimes. First-principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) indicate that optical property changes may be attributed to the boron-vacancy-related defects. The photoluminescence spectrum shows a strong emission peak at ~1.79 eV. The ultrafast Z-scan measurement shows saturable absorbance response has been detected for the defective h-BN with saturation intensity of ~1.03 GW/cm2 and modulation depth of 1.1%. In addition, the defective h-BN has been applied as a new saturable absorber (SA) to generate laser pulses through the passively Q-switched mode-locking configuration. Based on a Nd:YAG waveguide platform, 8.7 GHz repetition rate and 55 ps pulse duration of the waveguide laser have been achieved. Our results suggest potential applications of defective h-BN for ultrafast lasing and integrated photonics.


Nanoscale ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 4586-4590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Xiantao Jiang ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Xinxin Jin ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
...  

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for mode-locking Er- and Tm-doped fiber laser and as a promising nanomaterial for application in ultrafast photonic.


Nanophotonics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2731-2761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Huang ◽  
Yusheng Zhang ◽  
Xueming Liu

AbstractCarbon nanotube (CNT) can work as excellent saturable absorber (SA) due to its advantages of fast recovery, low saturation intensity, polarization insensitivity, deep modulation depth, broad operation bandwidth, outstanding environmental stability, and affordable fabrication. Its successful application as SA has promoted the development of scientific research and practical application of mode-locked fiber lasers. Besides, mode-locked fiber laser constitutes an ideal platform for investigating soliton dynamics which exhibit profound nonlinear optical dynamics and excitation ubiquitous in many fields. Up to now, a variety of soliton dynamics have been observed. Among these researches, CNT-SA is a key component that suppresses the environmental perturbation and optimizes the laser system to reveal the true highly stochastic and non-repetitive unstable phenomena of the initial self-starting lasing process. This review is intended to provide an up-to-date introduction to the development of CNT-SA based ultrafast fiber lasers, with emphasis on recent progress in real-time buildup dynamics of solitons in CNT-SA mode-locked fiber lasers. It is anticipated that study of dynamics of solitons can not only further reveal the physical nature of solitons, but also optimize the performance of ultrafast fiber lasers and eventually expand their applications in different fields.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document