High power passive mode-locked L-band fiber laser based on microfiber topological insulator saturable absorber

Abstract

In this communication, we demonstrate a passive mode-locked Er:Yb co-doped double-clad fiber laser using a tapered microfiber topological insulator (Bi 2 Se 3 ) saturable absorber (TISA). The topological insulator is drop-casted onto the tapered fiber and optically deposited by optical tweezer effect. We use a ring laser setup including the fabricated TISA. By carefully optimizing the cavity losses and output coupling ratio, the mode-locked laser can operate in L-band with a high average output power. At a maximum pump power of 5 W, we obtain the 91 st harmonic mode-locking of soliton bunches with a 3dB spectral bandwidth of 1.06nm, a repetition rate of 640.9 MHz and an average output power of 308mW. As far as we know, this is the highest output power yet reported of a mode-locked fiber laser operating with a TISA.