A Review on Rhenium Disulfide: Synthesis Approaches, Optical Properties, and Applications in Pulsed Lasers

Abstract

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.

2D Rhenium Dichalcogenides: From Fundamental Properties to Recent Advances in Photodetector Technology

“…Surface doping in ReS 2 induced by the deposition of rubidium results a near‐surface downward band bending instead of a stiff band‐filling of the conduction band states. [ 66,163,189–191 ] A change in the light polarization produces contrasting intensity distributions in the VBM ( Figure 8g and h). The out of plane Re $${d_{{z^2}}}$$ and the chalcogen p z orbitals do not have many contributions to the VBM, instead they contribute significantly to the sub‐bands at higher binding energy range.…”

“…The direct visualization of the orbital content of the valence band of ReSe 2 accentuates the fascinating properties of this anisotropic 2D layered semiconductor for subsequent applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. [ 66,118,192,195 ]…”

“…[54] On the other hand, ReS 2 and ReSe 2 exhibit direct band edge excitonic transitions within a relatively narrow energy range (1.3-1.7 eV). The excellent ambient stability together with other remarkable properties such as nonlinear saturable absorption, [63][64][65][66] polarization-sensitive optical emission and detection, [67][68][69] and weak dependence of optical band gap on the crystal thickness, [70][71][72][73] make ReX 2 a special and unique choice for photodetector applications. Understanding the light-matter interaction in these materials and their heterostructures is very crucial for the realization of efficient photodetectors.…”

“…[68,[76][77][78][79][80] While there are several excellent reviews available in the literature on group VI TMDs, particularly on the understanding of the layer-dependent behavior and exciton physics, reviews on Rebased TMDs are limited. [10,44,49,50,52,[81][82][83][84] Recently, the electronic and vibrational properties of rhenium dichalcogenides have witnessed surging interest in the theoretical understanding of materials behavior, and many intriguing observations have been reported. Interestingly, the last few years have seen over 100 publications on these materials aiming to understand the optical and phonon characteristics, reveal the potential of different optical methods to enrich present understanding about exciton dynamics and interlayer coupling, and demonstrate their potential for functional devices.…”

Photocatalytic Applications of ReS2-Based Heterostructures

“…Zhang et al has highlighted the weak coupling characteristics of ReS 2 [ 35 ], and the intrinsic anisotropic properties are summarized by Cao et al [ 36 ]. Other recent reviews have summarized advances in ReS 2 research with respect to electronics, optics, magnetism, and alkali-metal ion batteries [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Academic research regarding the photocatalytic properties of ReS 2 materials is currently limited.…”