Pulsed erbium-doped fiber laser by a few-layer molybdenum disulfide saturable absorber: from Q-switching to mode-locking

Abstract. We demonstrated a pulsed erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) based on a few-layer molybdenum disulfide saturable absorber (MoS2-SA). The MoS2-SA was fabricated into a film structure by evaporating the mixture of MoS2 nanosheets and polyvinyl alcohol. The Raman spectra and nonlinear optical characteristics were measured to confirm the quality of the as-prepared MoS2-SA. By inserting the MoS2-SA into an EDFL, the pulsed operation from the stable Q-switched to mode-locking regime could be achieved by simply increasing the pump power level. The Q-switched pulse duration and repetition rate could vary from 5.18 to 3.53  μs and from 72.74 to 86.39 kHz, respectively. The maximum pulse energy was 74.93 nJ. After the achievement of Q-switched operation, the ultrashort mode-locking pulse was obtained by further increasing the pump power. The results further demonstrate the excellent saturable absorption ability of the few-layer MoS2 at telecommunication waveband.

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