On the performance of a Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser based on a cadmium-sulfide (CdS) thin-film saturable absorber

Abstract

In the present work, an experimental analysis of a stable Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) has been performed using a cadmium-sulfide (CdS) thin-film-based saturable absorber (SA). The CdS thin-film SA was prepared using a solution method technique and was then incorporated between two fiber ferrules placed inside the ring cavity of EDFL. The measured results revealed that stable Q-switched pulse operation was achieved within a pump power from 25.08 to 557.48 mW of pump power. Within this pump power range, the repetition rates ranged from 12.4 to 105 kHz and the pulse duration narrowed down from 20.22 to 1.8 µs. Besides the maximum average output power, pulse energy, peak power, and signal-to-noise ratio were further measured to be 10.3 mW, 98.05 nJ, 54.5 mW, and 48 dB, respectively at a maximum available pump power of 557.48 mW. Additionally, the stability and threshold characteristics of CdS-SA-based EDFL were further investigated. These findings suggest that Q-switched EDFLs based on 2D materials-SAs hold promise for potential photonics applications due to their superior optical and non-linear characteristics.