Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles-Poly(vinyl) Alcohol Thin Film for Generation Q-Switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser

Abstract

The nonlinear optical property of Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles thin film synthesized by the solution casting method was investigated from the continuous wave to the Q-switching using an erbium-doped fiber laser cavity. Our laser experiment shows that ZnO nanoparticles embedded with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) allow for the generation of a stable Q-switching laser pulse, centered at 1560.08nm with a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 0.941 nm, a pulse duration of 3.53 µs and a high pulse energy of 171 nJ. Our finding suggests that ZnO nanoparticles thin film can be a useful nonlinear optical material for laser photonics devices such as passive q-switching for applications involving high energy.