High-power Q-switched erbium-ytterbium codoped fiber laser using multiwalled carbon nanotubes saturable absorber

Abstract

Due to an enormous potential of pulsed lasers in applications such as manufacturing, metrology, environmental sensing, and biomedical diagnostics, a high-power and stable Q-switched erbium-ytterbium codoped double-clad fiber laser (EYDFL) incorporating of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) saturable absorber (SA) made based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a 3:2 ratio is demonstrated. The SA was fabricated by mixing a dilute PVA solution with an MWCNTs homogeneous solution. Subsequently, the mixture was sonicated and centrifuged to produce a homogeneous suspension that was left to dry at room temperature to form the MWCNTs-PVA film. The SA was formed by inserting the film between a pair of FC/PC fiber connectors. Then, it was integrated into the EYDFL's ring cavity, which uses a 5-m-long erbium-ytterbium codoped fiber (EYDF). The lasing threshold for the Q-switched EYDFL was at 330 mW. At the maximum available pump power of 900 mW, the proposed EYDFL produced Q-switched pulses with a repetition rate of 74.85 kHz, pulsewidth of ∼3.6 μs, and an average output power of about 5 mW. The maximum energy per pulse of ∼85 nJ was obtained at pump power of ∼700 mW with peak power of 21 mW.