Sb₂Se₃ as saturable absorber for Q-switching generation in an erbium-doped fiber laser

Abstract

Based on the nonlinear saturable absorption properties (NSAPs) of a two-dimensional (2D) material of antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃), a Q-switched erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser is systematically demonstrated. The Sb₂Se₃ nanosheets are prepared by liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method. After the sandwich-structured Sb₂Se₃ saturable absorber (SA) is fabricated, the NSAPs are characterized and the modulation depth, the saturation intensity and the unsaturated loss are determined to be 25.2%, 2.02 MW/cm², and 3.29%, respectively. When the as-prepared Sb₂Se₃-SA is integrated into the ring cavity, the laser operates at a stable Q-switching regime in the pump power range of 100–400 mW. The laser oscillates at the central wavelength of 1 558.48 nm with a 3 dB bandwidth of 2.32 nm. Take the advantages of the Sb₂Se₃-SA, the pulse duration can be compressed from 40.49 kHz to 128.12 kHz. At the pump power of 400 mW, the Q-switching laser gives the narrowest pulse duration, the highest average output power, the largest pulse energy, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0.93 µs, 2.16 mW, 16.89 nJ, and 53 dB, respectively. Our new attempt on Sb₂Se₃-based Q-switched EDF laser, combining the existing mode-locking achievements, proves that Sb₂Se₃ is a powerful candidate for pulse compression due to the characteristics of high modulation depth and high stability.

Keywords

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