Nanosecond pulse and dual-wavelength Q-switched 1.5 µm fiber laser using MAX phase Cr₂TiAlC₂ saturable absorber

Abstract

We demonstrated a new type of MAX phase material, chromium titanium aluminum carbide (Cr₂TiAlC₂) polymer film, to generate a passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The film thickness was measured to be around 45 µm, which was fabricated using the embedding method with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer as hoster. The saturable absorber (SA) film demonstrates a dual-wavelength passively Q-switched EDFL which operates at 1 531 nm and 1 560.19 nm, respectively. The Q-switching pulse duration could be varied from 2.46 µs to 770 ns, while the repetition rate varied from 92.76 kHz to 106.6 kHz with an increasing input pumping range from 154 mW to 300 mW. The maximum output power and pulse energy of 15.05 mW and 141.18 nJ were obtained at the maximum input power of 300 mW, respectively.

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Tianjin University of Technology