MoS2-clad microfibre laser delivering conventional, dispersion-managed and dissipative solitons.

Yudong Cui,Xueming Liu,Feifei Lu

doi:10.1038/srep30524

Yudong Cui, Xueming Liu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep30524

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Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), whose monolayer possesses a direct band gap, displays promising applications in optoelectronics, photonics, and lasers. Recent researches have demonstrated that MoS2 has not only a significant broadband saturable absorption performance, but also a higher optical nonlinear response than graphene. However, MoS2 shows much lower optical damage threshold owing to the poorer thermal conductivity and mechanical property. Here, we exploit a MoS2-clad microfibre (MCM) as the saturable absorber (SA) for the generation of ultrashort pulses under different dispersion conditions. The improved evanescent field interaction scheme can overcome the laser-induced thermal damage, as well as take full advantage of the strong nonlinear effect of MoS2. With the MCM SA, conventional, dispersion-managed, and dissipative solitons are generated around 1600 nm in Er-doped fibre lasers with anomalous, near-zero, and normal cavity dispersions, respectively. Our work paves the way for applications of 2D layered materials in photonics, especially in laser sources.

Highlights

To start mode-locking operation[49]
MoS2 strips are separated from the substrate in the potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, and the etchant and residues are removed in the deionized water
According to the explanation based on atomic defects, S-atomic defects can reduce the bandgap to ~0.08 eV, supporting the broadband operation wavelength of MoS215,31

Summary

Introduction

To start mode-locking operation[49]. An all-surface technique that a monolayer graphene was wrapped around a microfibre can guarantee the maximum efficiency of the graphene nonlinearity, and it is employed as a SA in a mode-locked fibre laser for the generation of CSs50,51. DMSs have not been reported with MoS2-based saturable absorber until now. Monolayer MoS2 wrapped around a microfibre is used as a SA shown, overcoming the laser-induced thermal damage, and effectively exploiting the strong nonlinear effect of MoS2. With the MoS2-clad microfibre (MCM) SA, CSs, DMSs and DSs are generated around 1600 nm in Er-doped fibre lasers. With dispersion management technique employed, the fibre laser cavity dispersion can be normal, near-zero and anomolous dispersion when single mode fibres (SMFs) with different lengths are introduced into cavity. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness and practicability of the improved evanescent field interaction scheme, and potentially give some new insights into graphene-like materials related applications

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