Bismuth telluride topological insulator nanosheet saturable absorbers for q‐switched mode‐locked Tm:ZBLAN waveguide lasers

Studies of the nonlinear optical phenomena that describe the light‐matter interactions in 2D crystalline materials have promoted a diverse range of photonic applications. MXene, as a recently developed new 2D material, has attracted considerable attention because of its graphene‐like but highly tunable and tailorable electronic/optical properties. In this study, we systematically characterize the nonlinear optical response of MXene Ti3C2Tx nanosheets over the spectral range of 800 nm to 1800 nm. A large effective nonlinear absorption coefficient (βeff∼‐10−21 m2/V2) due to saturable absorption is observed for all of the testing wavelengths. The contribution of saturable absorption is two orders of magnitude higher than other lossy nonlinear absorption processes, and the amplitude of βeff strongly depends on the light bleaching level. A negative nonlinear refractive index (n2∼‐10−20 m2/W) with value comparable to that of the intensively studied graphene was demonstrated for the first time. These results demonstrate the efficient broadband light signal manipulating capabilities of Ti3C2Tx, which is only one member of the large MXene family. The capability of an efficient broadband optical switch is strongly confirmed using Ti3C2Tx as saturable absorbers for mode‐locking operation at 1066 nm and 1555 nm, respectively. A highly stable femtosecond laser with pulse duration as short as 159 fs in the telecommunication window is readily obtained. Considering the diversity of the MXene family, this study may open a new avenue to advanced photonic devices.

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“…Where I s is the saturation intensity, α 1 is the modulation depth parameter, and

β_{eff}^{'} normalI = β_{eff} normalI - α_{1} / false(1 + I / {normalI}_{normals} false)

. Note the contributions of MPA, RSA and FCA to the absorption coefficient are positive.…”

Section: Optical Nonlinearity Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti₃C₂T_x (T = F, O, or OH)

Jiang

Liu

Liang

et al. 2017

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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“…The possibility to achieve shorter pulses with MoS 2 SA is explained by a larger fraction of the saturable loss to the small-signal absorption for this material (α' S /α' SA = 0.074) as compared to graphene (α' S /α' SA = 0.042) [19]. The achieved results represent a significant improvement of the laser performance as compared to the previously reported Tm WG lasers PQS by 2D materials such as graphene or topological insulator [20][21][22] (cf. Table 1).…”

Section: Passively Q-switched Lasermentioning

confidence: 58%

“…As for channel WGs produced by fs-DLW, solely "fast" SAs have been used, incl. graphene, topological insulator (Bi 2 Te 3 ) and SWCNTs [20][21][22][23]. Typically, these lasers generated μs-long pulses with a low average output power.…”

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confidence: 99%

Fs-laser-written thulium waveguide lasers Q-switched by graphene and MoS₂

et al. 2019

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We report the generation of mid-infrared (~2 µm) high repetition rate (MHz) sub-100 ns pulses in buried thulium-doped monoclinic double tungstate crystalline waveguide lasers using two-dimensional saturable absorber materials, graphene and MoS 2 . The waveguide (propagation losses of ~1 dB/cm) was micro-fabricated by means of ultrafast femtosecond laser writing. In the continuous-wave regime, the waveguide laser generated 247 mW at 1849.6 nm with a slope efficiency of 48.7%. The laser operated at the fundamental transverse mode with a linearly polarized output. With graphene as a saturable absorber, the pulse characteristics were 88 ns / 18 nJ (duration / energy) at a repetition rate of 1.39 MHz. Even shorter pulses of 66 ns were achieved with MoS 2 . Graphene and MoS 2 are therefore promising for high repetition rate nanosecond Q-switched infrared waveguide lasers. IntroductionWaveguide (WG) lasers emitting in the spectral range of ~2 μm are of interest for spectroscopy, telecom and environmental sensing applications [1]. This is because their emission is eye-safe and matches the absorption lines of various atmospheric and biomolecules. The laser operation at ~2 μm is achieved using such trivalent rare-earth ions as Thulium (Tm 3+ ) or Holmium (Ho 3+ ). In the former case, the transition of interest is 3 F 4 → 3 H 6 . Due to the large Stark splitting of the Tm 3+ ground-state, its emission is wavelength-tunable. The Tm 3+ ions feature strong absorption at ~0.8 μm ( 3 H 6 → 3 H 4 transition) allowing for their efficient pumping by AlGaAs laser diodes and Ti:Sapphire lasers. Moreover, the crossrelaxation for adjacent Tm 3+ ions, 3 H 4 + 3 H 6 → 3 F 4 + 3 F 4 , can potentially raise the pump quantum efficiency up to 2.Efficient continuous-wave (CW) thulium WG lasers are known [2,3]. Several methods have been used to fabricate WGs based on Tm 3+ -doped materials, e.g., liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) in combination with ion beam etching [2], optical bonding [4], ion diffusion [5], reactive co-sputtering [6] and femtosecond direct laser writing (fs-DLW) also referred as ultrafast laser inscription (ULI) [7]. In the latter approach, the output of an ultrafast (fs) An overview of PQS thulium WG lasers reported to date is presented in Table 1. Regarding planar WG lasers produced by LPE, a "slow" SA (Cr 2+ :ZnS) was employed in a Tm:KY(WO 4 ) 2 laser yielding 1.2 μs / 0.12 μJ (duration / energy) pulses at a low repetition rate of 10 kHz [24]. The use of a "fast" SWCNT-based SA in a similar laser lead to much shorter pulses of 83 ns / 33 nJ at 1.39 MHz [25]. However, both these lasers generated spatially multimode output.

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“…Another identical 45°dichroic mirror (M2) was used to separate the pump and output light. Previous studies 57,59 indicate that the nonlinear optical properties and linear losses of the saturable absorber can be finely tailored via directly varying the numbers of the printed layer. Here, fiber and gold mirror SAs with a range of printed layers are designed and fabricated.…”

Section: Laser Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Inkjet-printed MXene micro-scale devices for integrated broadband ultrafast photonics

et al. 2019

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MXene, as a novel 2D crystal material, possessing tunable bandgap, low optical attenuation and broadband nonlinear optical responses that may promote the fabrications of advanced electro-photonics devices has gathered remarkable attention recently. However, current investigations of 2D crystals for photonics devices suffer from the limitations of reproducibility, scalability, and compatibility. Inkjet printing is one of the powerful additive manufacturers that facilitate well-controlled, low-cost, scalable and small-footprint electrophotonics devices on myriad substrates. Herein, we directly inkjet printed MXene nanosheets in laser resonators with both fiber and free-space geometrics, and achieved extensive spectral band ultrafast laser operations from near-to the mid-infrared regime with pulse duration going to 100 femtoseconds. The demonstrations of versatile inkjet-printed devices based on MXene, while forthputting its distinct electro-optical properties, may allow the realizations of advanced MXene enable photonics devices shortly.

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Bismuth telluride topological insulator nanosheet saturable absorbers for q‐switched mode‐locked Tm:ZBLAN waveguide lasers

Cited by 55 publications

References 66 publications

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti₃C₂T_x (T = F, O, or OH)

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti₃C₂T_x (T = F, O, or OH)

Fs-laser-written thulium waveguide lasers Q-switched by graphene and MoS₂

Inkjet-printed MXene micro-scale devices for integrated broadband ultrafast photonics

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Bismuth telluride topological insulator nanosheet saturable absorbers for q‐switched mode‐locked Tm:ZBLAN waveguide lasers

Cited by 55 publications

References 66 publications

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti3C2Tx (T = F, O, or OH)

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti3C2Tx (T = F, O, or OH)

Fs-laser-written thulium waveguide lasers Q-switched by graphene and MoS2

Inkjet-printed MXene micro-scale devices for integrated broadband ultrafast photonics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti₃C₂T_x (T = F, O, or OH)

Broadband Nonlinear Photonics in Few‐Layer MXene Ti₃C₂T_x (T = F, O, or OH)

Fs-laser-written thulium waveguide lasers Q-switched by graphene and MoS₂