Q-switched giant pulsed erbium-doped all-fiber laser with V₂ZnC MAX phase saturable absorber

Abstract

MXenes, drawn from MAX phases, are special two-dimensional substances with numerous advantages in nonlinear optics, specifically in giant and ultrashort pulsed-laser applications. Ti₃C₂T _x and Ti₂CT _x nanosheets however rapidly deteriorate under ambient conditions, limiting their applications. This paper demonstrates how excellent modulation depth of one of the MAX phase compounds vanadium zinc carbide (V₂ZnC) makes it a brilliant saturable absorber (SA) in passively Q-switched all-fiber pulsed lasers, integrated such that a 16.73-µm V₂ZnC-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thin film acts as SA in the laser. Saturable and non-saturable absorptions were found to be 13.2% and 10.47%, while saturation optical intensity and modulation depth were 6.25 kW/cm² and 12.43%, respectively, illustrating the optical nonlinearity. The superiority of MAX-PVA, fabricated in four distinct ratios, was demonstrated by the fact that it self-starts a giant pulsed laser at pump power as low as 22.5 mW and firmly accomplished 120.6 kHz repetition rate with a pulse width of 2.08 µs. It is a fine SA for the use of pulsed-laser production using all-fiber laser due to fabrication simplicity and great optical, thermophysical, and mechanical qualities.

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