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We report the feasibility of vanadium aluminum carbide (V2AlC) for implementation as a saturable absorber (SA) for Q-switched pulse generation in Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity. The V2AlC, a MAX phase material is successfully combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form a SA film for use in generating stable Q-switched pulses operating at 1559 nm with a maximum repetition rate of 53.55 kHz and a minimum pulse width of 2.54 μs. The maximum pulse energy equal to 57.14nJ is recorded at a 71.5 mW pump power. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of EDFL passive Q-switching using V2AlC absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new saturable absorber (SA) based on Lanthanum Hexaboride (LaB 6) is used to produce Q-switched and mode-locked laser pulses. In constructing the SA, the prepared LaB 6 powder is dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution before the mixture is dried to form a thin film. A small piece of the film is placed between two fiber ferrules to form a LaB 6 PVA SA and added to a laser cavity of an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) to produce Q-switched and mode-locked pulses. The Q-switched laser operates at 1531 nm. The pulse width of the pulses can be varied between 4.32 to 2.46 μ s with a corresponding repetition rate of 62.0 to 89.6 kHz when the pump power is increased from 45.4 to 97.6 mW. At the maximum output power of 4.31 mW, the highest pulse energy of 48.1 nJ was obtained. A passively mode locked EDFL was also successfully realized with LaB 6 SA by adding 100 m long single mode fiber inside the cavity. A stable mode-locked laser operating at 1559.1 nm was achieved at the threshold pump power of 102.8 mW with a pulse rate of 1.88 MHz. The pulse energy of 5.6 nJ and output power of 10.54 mW were obtained at a maximum pump power of 144.6 mW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of utilizing LaB 6 material as SA to produce pulses in the 1.5 μ m region. • Lanthanum Hexaboride (LaB 6) as saturable absorber to produce Q-switched and mode-locked pulses. • The prepared LaB6 powder is dispersed in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution. • The SA has a modulation depth of 4.2%. • The Q-switched and mode-locked laser operated at 1531 nm and 1559.1 nm, respectively. • The mode-locked pulse has 157.8 ns pulse width and 1.88 MHz repetition rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We successfully demonstrate a Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using titanium dioxide (TiO2) coated onto a fiber ferrule as a saturable absorber (SA). The fiber ferrule is immersed into a TiO2 colloid, using the dip-coating method to prepare the SA. Stable pulses operating at 1,565 nm with a 3 dB bandwidth of 1.9 nm are achieved within the pump power range from 63.41 to 104.62 mW. A maximum repetition rate of 72.89 kHz and a pulse energy of 29.91 nJ are respectively generated, while the minimum pulse width is 3.02 μs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of EDFL passive Q-switching using TiO2 colloid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate the Q-switched and mode-locked pulse generation, using Molybdenum Aluminum Boride (MoAlB) material as a saturable absorber (SA). The SA film was obtained by mixing MoAlB with a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution and then evaporating the mixture on a petri-dish. The prepared MoAlB PVA thin film exhibits a saturable absorption characteristic of 10.4%. Being introduced into an Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity, the MoAlB PVA thin film provides a stable Q-switched pulse at 1559 nm, which is achieved by adjusting the pump power above the threshold equal to 30.2 mW. The pulse has a maximum repetition frequency of 82.92 kHz, a minimum pulse width of 2.14 μm, and a maximum energy of 27.49 nJ at the pump power equal to 83.8 mW. Also we obtain the mode-locked pulse at 1560.1 nm, when the cavity length is extended to 205 m. The repetition frequency, pulse width, and time bandwidth product of the mode-locked pulse are 0.989 MHz, 3.82 ps, and 0.329, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that Q-switched and mode-locked pulses are obtained in a fiber laser based on MoAlB material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We successfully demonstrate Q-switched fiber laser with a 20 cm long Hafnium-Bismuth-Erbium codoped fiber (HBEDF) as an active medium in conjunction with Antimony Telluride (Sb2Te3) saturable absorber (SA). The HBEDF has an Erbium ion absorption coefficient of 100 dB/m at 980 nm; thus, the laser setup only requires a very short length of gain medium for lasing in the 1550 nm range. We realize the Sb2Te3 SA obtained by embedding the material into Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), and a Q-switched pulse train operating at 1560.7 nm is realized, using only a 20 cm long active fiber, when the prepared Sb2Te3 thin film is integrated into the laser ring cavity. The repetition rate of the Q-switched pulses is tunable from 47.7 to 74.8 kHz as the pump power is raised from the threshold value equal to 69.9 mW to a value of 105.0 mW. The maximum attainable pulse energy is 31.2 nJ. Our results indicate that the Sb2Te3 material is useful as an effective Q-switcher especially for the laser operation in 1.55 μm range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]