Multi-wavelength lasers have widespread applications (e.g. fiber telecommunications, pump-probe measurements, terahertz generation). Here, we report a nanotube-mode-locked all-fiber ultrafast oscillator emitting three wavelengths at the central wavelengths of about 1540, 1550, and 1560 nm, which are tunable by stretching fiber Bragg gratings. The output pulse duration is around 6 ps with a spectral width of ~0.5 nm, agreeing well with the numerical simulations. The triple-laser system is controlled precisely and insensitive to environmental perturbations with <0.04% amplitude fluctuation. Our method provides a simple, stable, low-cost, multi-wavelength ultrafast-pulsed source for spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications.

A traditional ultrafast fibre laser has a constant cavity length that is independent of the pulse wavelength. The investigation of distributed ultrafast (DUF) lasers is conceptually and technically challenging and of great interest because the laser cavity length and fundamental cavity frequency are changeable based on the wavelength. Here, we propose and demonstrate a DUF fibre laser based on a linearly chirped fibre Bragg grating, where the total cavity length is linearly changeable as a function of the pulse wavelength. The spectral sidebands in DUF lasers are enhanced greatly, including the continuous-wave (CW) and pulse components. We observe that all sidebands of the pulse experience the same round-trip time although they have different round-trip distances and refractive indices. The pulse-shaping of the DUF laser is dominated by the dissipative processes in addition to the phase modulations, which makes our ultrafast laser simple and stable. This laser provides a simple, stable, low-cost, ultrafast-pulsed source with controllable and changeable cavity frequency.

Graphene, whose absorbance is approximately independent of wavelength, allows broadband light–matter interactions with ultrafast responses. The interband optical absorption of graphene can be saturated readily under strong excitation, thereby enabling scientists to exploit the photonic properties of graphene to realize ultrafast lasers. The evanescent field interaction scheme of the propagating light with graphene covered on a D-shaped fibre or microfibre has been employed extensively because of the nonblocking configuration. Obviously, most of the fibre surface is unused in these techniques. Here, we exploit a graphene-clad microfibre (GCM) saturable absorber in a mode-locked fibre laser for the generation of ultrafast pulses. The proposed all-surface technique can guarantee a higher efficiency of light–graphene interactions than the aforementioned techniques. Our GCM-based saturable absorber can generate ultrafast optical pulses within 1.5 μm. This saturable absorber is compatible with current fibre lasers and has many merits such as low saturation intensities, ultrafast recovery times, and wide wavelength ranges. The proposed saturable absorber will pave the way for graphene-based wideband photonics.

High-repetition-rate pulses have widespread applications in the fields of fiber communications, frequency comb, and optical sensing. Here, we have demonstrated high-repetition-rate ultrashort pulses in an all-fiber laser by exploiting an intracavity Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as a comb filter. The repetition rate of the laser can be tuned flexibly from about 7 to 1100 GHz by controlling the optical path difference between the two arms of the MZI. The pulse duration can be reduced continuously from about 10.1 to 0.55 ps with the spectral width tunable from about 0.35 to 5.7 nm by manipulating the intracavity polarization controller. Numerical simulations well confirm the experimental observations and show that filter-driven four-wave mixing effect, induced by the MZI, is the main mechanism that governs the formation of the high-repetition-rate pulses. This all-fiber-based laser is a simple and low-cost source for various applications where high-repetition-rate pulses are necessary.

2D ternary transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have been studied widely by researchers from the fields of nanotechnology to materials science because of the extraordinary chemical/physical characteristics, and significant potential in nanoscale device applications. Here, the application of Nb x Re (1−x) S 2 nanosheets in ultrafast photonics is studied. The few-layer Nb x Re (1−x) S 2 nanosheets are fabricated through liquid phase exfoliation method and a Nb x Re (1−x) S 2 -microfiber device is constructed by depositing these nanosheets onto the tapered region of a microfiber. After incorporating the Nb x Re (1−x) S 2 -microfiber saturable absorber (SA) into a net positive dispersion Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser cavity, the generation of stable dissipative soliton pulses with a pulse duration of 1.03 ps proved as polarization-locked vector solitons upon further study. With pump power growing to 900 mW, the average output power increases to 116.9 mW without pulse splitting. Besides, the pulse width can be compressed to 149.6 fs outside the cavity by using a single-mode fiber. Compared with previous works based on 2D materials-based saturable absorbers, the Nb x Re (1−x) S 2 -based mode-locked fiber laser proposed herein, reveals superior comprehensive performance.