Passively Q-switched Tm:YAP laser based on SnS2 saturable absorber

Abstract

In this paper, a passively Q-switched Tm:YAP laser with a SnS2 saturable absorber (SA) fabricated by the liquid-phase exfoliation method was demonstrated for the first time. The optical characteristics of SnS2 SA were characterized. The continuous-wave Tm:YAP laser was investigated first. An incident pump power of 7.92 W was used to generate a continuous-wave laser with a maximum average output power of 920 mW and a slope efficiency of 20.1%. By inserting SnS2 SA into the resonant cavity, a Q-switched pulsed laser operated at 2 µm with the shortest pulse width of 1.073 μs, the maximum repetition frequency of 58.79 kHz, the highest peak power of 8.15 W, and the maximum average output power of 514 mW was obtained. The corresponding slope efficiency was 14.7%. Apart from these, the beam profiles and the quality factor M2 were measured.