Ultrafast Mode-Locked Fiber Laser Using a Waveguide-Type Saturable Absorber Based on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

We report a waveguide-type single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA) for passive mode-locking of ultrafast lasers. Conventional silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) waveguides possessing excellent stability and low propagation loss are employed for efficient interaction with SWCNT...

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Published inApplied physics express Vol. 6; no. 5; pp. 052705 - 052705-4
Main Authors Jeong, Hwanseong, Choi, Sun Young, Jeong, Eun Il, Cha, Sang Jun, Rotermund, Fabian, Yeom, Dong-Il
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published The Japan Society of Applied Physics 25.05.2013
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Summary:We report a waveguide-type single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA) for passive mode-locking of ultrafast lasers. Conventional silica planar lightwave circuit (PLC) waveguides possessing excellent stability and low propagation loss are employed for efficient interaction with SWCNTs. A high-quality SWCNT/polymer composite is coated on the PLC chip under optimized conditions. We then analyze the linear and nonlinear transmission properties of the fabricated waveguide-type SA. As a proof of our concept, a mode-locked fiber laser including our SA was built; it stably delivers 602 fs pulses with an average output power of 8.58 mW at a repetition rate of 11.25 MHz.
Bibliography:(a) Photograph of PLC chip. Microscopy images of (b) side and (c) top views of PLC waveguide. (a) Schematic of SWCNT-SA based on PLC chip (inset: top view of SA). (b) Calculated beam profile of the core mode in SWCNT-coated PLC waveguide. Measured linear and nonlinear transmissions of fabricated SA with (a) TM and (b) TE input polarization. (a) Configuration of the fabricated fiber ring laser including the waveguide-type SA. (b) Microscopy image of optical fiber butt-coupled with the PLC chip. (a) Optical spectrum (inset: pulse train). (b) Autocorrelation trace (inset: RF spectrum characteristics of the fabricated fiber laser output).
ISSN:1882-0778
1882-0786
DOI:10.7567/APEX.6.052705