Molybdenum disulfide (MoS_2) as a broadband saturable absorber for ultra-fast photonics

• Main Authors: Zhang, H, Lu, S B, Zheng, J, Du, J, Wen, S C, Tang, D Y, Loh, K P
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Nanoelectronics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/104128; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19409
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The nonlinear optical property of few-layered MoS2 nanoplatelets synthesized by the hydrothermal exfoliation method was investigated from the visible to the near-infrared band using lasers. Both open-aperture Z-scan and balanced-detector measurement techniques were used to demonstrate the broadband saturable absorption property of few-layered MoS2. To explore its potential applications in ultrafast photonics, we fabricated a passive mode locker for ytterbium-doped fibre laser by depositing few-layered MoS2 onto the end facet of optical fiber by means of an optical trapping approach. Our laser experiment shows that few-layer MoS2-based mode locker allows for the generation of stable mode-locked laser pulse, centered at 1054.3 nm, with a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 2.7 nm and a pulse duration of 800 ps. Our finding suggests that few-layered MoS2 nanoplatelets can be useful nonlinear optical material for laser photonics devices, such as passive laser mode locker, Q-switcher, optical limiter, optical switcher and so on.