Broadband indium tin oxide nanowire arrays as saturable absorbers for solid-state lasers

Abstract

Indium Tin Oxide nanowire arrays (ITO-NWAs), as epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials, exhibit a fast response time and a low saturable absorption intensity, which make them promising photoelectric materials. In this study, ITO-NWAs were successfully fabricated using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and the saturable absorption properties of this material were characterized in the near-infrared region. Further, passively Q-switched all-solid-state lasers were realized at wavelengths of 1.0, 1.3, and 2.0 µm using the as-prepared saturable absorber (SA). To the best of our knowledge, we present the first application of ITO-NWAs in all-solid-state lasers. The results reveal that ITO-NWAs may be applied as an SA while developing Q-switched lasers and that they exhibit a broad application prospect as broadband saturable absorption materials.

Plasmonic Saturable Absorbers

“…[ 113 ] As these wet‐chemistry‐derived ITO NPs raise the issue of stability, chemical vapor deposition (CVD)‐grown as well as sputtered ITO nanowire arrays and thin films were also used for fabricating SAs by Liu and coworkers for pulse generation in NIR and MIR regions (1.0, 1.3, and 2.0 μm). [ 114–116 ] These SAs show a broad operating bandwidth probably benefited from the modulation of the plasmon mode by nanostructures and the presence of defect. In addition, these new SAs show much higher stability against laser damage, which would be promising for practical applications.…”

One-reactor vacuum and plasma synthesis of transparent conducting oxide nanotubes and nanotrees: from single wire conductivity to ultra-broadband perfect absorbers in the NIR

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] One-dimensional (1D) TCO nanomaterials such as nanowires (NWs) and nanotubes (NTs) are excellent candidates for the assembly of photodetectors, 14,15 electron emitters, 16 phototransistors, 9 light-emitting diodes (LEDs), 17 biological and chemical sensors, 18,19 UV nanolasers, anti-reflective coatings and broadband saturable absorbers for solid-state lasers. 20 The most widespread methods for the preparation of ITO 1D nanostructures include catalytic or self-catalytic growth of single crystalline nanowires 21,22 by vapor-solid (VS) and vapor-liquid-solid VLS growth mechanisms 23 and epitaxial growth 16,24 yielding singlecrystalline nanostructures. Besides, several template-assisted fabrication protocols have been reported as the use of hard (carbon nanotubes (CNTs), 25 anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) 26,27 ) and soft (polystyrene, 28,29 polycarbonate 30 membranes) templates.…”

Nickel-vanadium layered double hydroxide nanosheets as the saturable absorber for a passively Q-switched 2 µm solid-state laser

“…Diode-pumped nanosecond pulsed laser sources at 2 μm have remained a research hotspot in various application fields, such as laser ranging, remote sensing, coherent communications, and surgery [1][2][3]. The PQS lasers have their own unique advantages in generating nanosecond pulse lasers, due to their simplicity and low cost without the need for high-voltage and RF drivers.…”