Using a black phosphorus saturable absorber to generate dual wavelengths in a Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser

Abstract

Using a few-layer black phosphorus (BP) thin film that acts as a saturable absorber (SA) in an ytterbium-doped fiber laser setup, we experimentally demonstrated a passively dual-wavelength Q-switching laser operation. The setup also incorporated a D-shaped polished fiber as a wavelength selective filter. As the SA was used in the ring cavity, a dual-wavelength Q-switch produced consistent outputs at 1038.68 and 1042.05 nm. A maximum pulse energy of 2.09 nJ with a shortest pulse width of 1.16 µs was measured for the achieved pulses. In addition, the repetition rate increased from 52.52 to 58.73 kHz with the increment of the pump level. Throughout the measurement process, the results were obtained consistently and this demonstrates that the BP film is a very good candidate to produce Q-switching pulses for the 1 micron region.