Antimonene: a long-term stable two-dimensional saturable absorption material under ambient conditions for the mid-infrared spectral region

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a long-term stable two-dimensional saturable absorption material under ambient conditions—multi-layer antimonene feasible for the mid-infrared spectral region—for the first time to our knowledge. The multi-layer antimonene material prepared using a liquid-phase exfoliation method was coated on a quartz/CaF2 for characterizations and an Au mirror as a reflection-type saturable absorber (SA) device. It has a modulation depth of 10.5%, a saturation peak intensity of 0.26 GW/cm2, and a non-saturation loss of 19.1% measured at 2868.0 nm using the typical power-dependent method. By introducing the SA device into a linear-cavity Ho3+/Pr3+-codoped fluoride fiber laser at 2865.0 nm, stable Q-switched pulses were obtained. It generated a maximum output power of 112.3 mW and pulse energy of 0.72 μJ, while the shortest pulse duration and largest repetition rate were 1.74 μs and 156.2 kHz, respectively. The long-term stability of the SA device was also checked using the same laser setup within 28 days. The results indicate that multi-layer antimonene is a type of promising long-term stable SA material under ambient conditions that can be applied in the mid-infrared spectral region.