Ag/MXene Composite as a Broadband Nonlinear Modulator for Ultrafast Photonics

Abstract

Nanomaterials with broadband nonlinear responses have attracted wide attention in ultrafast photonics, which have proven to be reliable saturable absorbers to generate broadband pulses. In recent years, combining materials with different characteristics has also become a new research hotspot. Herein, two-dimensional MXene (Ti3C2T x ) and metal silver (Ag) nanoparticles were combined to form the Ag/MXene composite by the technique of layer-by-layer spraying with the hot-pressing method, enhancing the nonlinear absorption property of the composite. In addition, the Ag/MXene also exhibited broadband saturable absorption abilities in the measurement of the nonlinear transmittance from 1 to 2 μm. Therefore, the Ag/MXene composite was used as a saturable absorber to modulate pulses in lasers, where the Q-switched pulses based on Ag/MXene were realized in ytterbium-, erbium-, and thulium:holmium-doped fiber lasers for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The performance of the output pulses including wavelength, power, and stability were also discussed in detail. This work provides more possibilities for the combination of different materials, which promotes the development of broadband lasers based on nanomaterials in the farther mid-infrared band.

Ag/MXene as Saturable Absorber for Tm:Ho Co-Doped Q-Switched Fiber Laser

“…The typical results and the long-term stability of the 2 m Q-switched laser enabled by the Ag/MXene SA were analyzed, which verified the reliability of the laser. Compared with previous work that investigated the broadband nonlinear responses of Ag/MXene SA in pulsed lasers, this work focused on studying the characteristics of Q-switched pulses generated in a 2 m Ag/MXene-based laser [ 62 ]. Notably, the SNR of the Q-switched pulses reached 60 dB, indicating the higher stability and improved pulse quality under the enhancement effect of the nonlinear properties.…”

Ultrafast Hot‐Electron Transfer and Plasmonic Coupling Enable Au/MXene Nanohybrids with Broadband Excellent Nonlinear Absorption

“…On the one hand, Au NBPs offer additional occupied states for carriers through the transfer process. [ 52 ] Consequently, the Au/Ta 4 C 3 T x nanohybrids provided more depletion states, resulting in a stronger and easier SA than the original Ta 4 C 3 T x NSs. On the other hand, the excited carriers in the CB of the Ta 4 C 3 T x NSs are transferred to the sp ‐band of the Au NBPs before returning to the VB of the Ta 4 C 3 T x NSs, which prolongs the carrier lifetime.…”

Ultrafast laser state active controlling based on anisotropic quasi-1D material

“…Low-dimensional materials (LDMs) with the quantum confinement effect exhibit unique optoelectronic properties, providing new opportunities for generation of ultrafast lasers 18 – 27 . The ultrafast lasers based on LDMs exhibits decent performance in pulse width and spectra 28 – 31 while the LS controlling is elusive. Even though LS controlling can be achieved by regulating pump power 32 – 34 or thickness of saturable absorber (SA) 35 , it typically suffers from low effectiveness and lack of dynamic mechanism.…”