Ultrafast saturable absorption devices incorporating efficiently electrosprayed carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We demonstrate saturable absorption operation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) deposited by an efficient electrospray process that provides target-localized deposition with a homogeneous dispersion of the nanomaterials. An improvement in deposition efficiency of 95% is achieved. CNT dispersion/deposition conditions are optimized for suppressed CNT agglomeration, thereby maximizing the nonlinear absorption of CNTs. An ultrafast saturable absorber is formed with side-polished fiber as a substrate for evanescent field interaction of propagated light with CNTs. A resultant fiber mode-locked laser is realized. The laser has output with an estimated pulse duration and repetition rate of 190.9 fs and 3.95 MHz, respectively.

Versatile multi-wavelength ultrafast fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes

“…1) fails to simultaneously delivering three wavelengths if SWNT is replaced by such saturable absorbers as nonlinear loop mirror, nonlinear polarization rotation, SESAM, and graphene. It attributes to the inherent characteristic of SWNT, which has highly environmental stability and is independent of the polarization of pulses evolving in the laser cavity10354041.…”

Nonlinear Black Phosphorus for Ultrafast Optical Switching

“…In order to fabricate the experimental device, a prepared BP suspension was sprayed on the flat surface of a D-shaped fiber via electrospraying, an efficient target-localized homogeneous depositing method already used for different nanomaterials 51 , as schematized in Fig. 2a .…”

Carbon nanotube and graphene photonic devices: nonlinearity enhancement and novel preparation approaches

“…43 Benefi ts of this method include a target-localized deposition and homogeneous dispersion controlled by the spray geometry as well as nanometer-scaled droplet size. This can be achieved by applying an electrostatic charge on the surface of the original drops on the nozzle tip.…”