Transition metal dichalcogenide (WS2 and MoS2) saturable absorbers for Q-switched Er-doped fiber lasers. (11th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Lu; Lv, Ruidong; Liu, Sicong; Wang, Xi; Wang, Yonggang; Chen, Zhendong; Wang, Jiang
• Is Part Of: Laser physics. Volume 28:Number 5(2018:May)
• Publication Date: 2018-04-11
• Subjects: fiber lasers -- saturable absorber -- Q-switched; Lasers -- Periodicals; 621.36605
• DOI: 10.1088/1555-6611/aab24f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1054-660X

Abstract

Abstract: This report demonstrates a stable Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser with MoS2 (WS2 )-based saturable absorber (SA) in the net normal dispersion regime. The SA is obtained by mixing MoS2 (WS2 ) nanosheets with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) into polystyrene cells, and then evaporating them to form MoS2 (WS2 )/PVA film. The modulation depth values for MoS2 /PVA and WS2 /PVA are measured to be 2.7% and 2.1% respectively. Employing the MoS2 (WS2 )/PVA film in the Er-doped fiber laser cavity, stable Q-switching operation is achieved with central wavelength of 1560 nm. The shortest pulse durations of the two Q-switched fiber lasers are, respectively, 3.97 and 3.71 µ s, and their maximum single pulse energies are measured to be 131.52 and 126.96 nJ. The experimental results clearly show that MoS2 (WS2 ) is a promising nonlinear material, and that improvements in Q-switching performance due to two SAs in the net normal dispersion regime might be helpful in the design of fiber lasers.