Sub-200 fs soliton mode-locked fiber laser based on bismuthene saturable absorber

ZrSe2 nanosheet as saturable absorber for soliton operations within an Er-doped passive mode-locked fiber laser

Two-dimensional materials have extensively promoted the development of ultrafast photonics in the past decade. In our work, the saturable absorption properties of ZrSe₂ were presented. The saturation intensity, modulation depth, and nonlinear absorption coefficient of the ZrSe₂ saturable absorber (SA) are about 13.14MW/cm², 6.09%, and 1.85∗10^-1cm/GW. In the experiment, based on the ZrSe₂ SA, two types of solitons were recorded. A conventional soliton with a pulse width of 985 fs and a three-pulse bound state soliton have been obtained. Our experiment reveals that ZrSe₂ can be employed for generating multiple ultrafast soliton generations and possess promising application in ultrafast photonics.

Two-Dimensional Platinum Diselenide: Synthesis, Emerging Applications, and Future Challenges

In recent years, emerging two-dimensional (2D) platinum diselenide (PtSe2) has quickly attracted the attention of the research community due to its novel physical and chemical properties. For the past few years, increasing research achievements on 2D PtSe2 have been reported toward the fundamental science and various potential applications of PtSe2. In this review, the properties and structure characteristics of 2D PtSe2 are discussed at first. Then, the recent advances in synthesis of PtSe2 as well as their applications are reviewed. At last, potential perspectives in exploring the application of 2D PtSe2 are reviewed.

Ultra-narrowband light absorption enhancement of monolayer graphene from waveguide mode

Greatly improving the light absorption efficiency of graphene and simultaneously manipulating the corresponding absorption bandwidth (broadband or narrowband) is practically important to design graphene-based optoelectronic devices. In this work, we will theoretically show how to largely enhance the absorption in graphene and efficiently control the absorption bandwidth in the visible region, by the excitation of the waveguide mode for the graphene monolayer to be sandwiched between the gold sphere array and dielectric waveguide structure composed of indium tin oxide (ITO) film on a quartz substrate. It is found that the maximum absorption efficiency can reach as high as about 45% and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the absorption peak can be tuned from about 1 to 10 nanometers, when the array period of gold spheres or the thickness of ITO film is changed.

Recent Progress, Challenges, and Prospects in Two-Dimensional Photo-Catalyst Materials and Environmental Remediation

The successful photo-catalyst library gives significant information on feature that affects photo-catalytic performance and proposes new materials. Competency is considerably significant to form multi-functional photo-catalysts with flexible characteristics. Since recently, two-dimensional materials (2DMs) gained much attention from researchers, due to their unique thickness-dependent uses, mainly for photo-catalytic, outstanding chemical and physical properties. Photo-catalytic water splitting and hydrogen (H2) evolution by plentiful compounds as electron (e-) donors is estimated to participate in constructing clean method for solar H2-formation. Heterogeneous photo-catalysis received much research attention caused by their applications to tackle numerous energy and environmental issues. This broad review explains progress regarding 2DMs, significance in structure, and catalytic results. We will discuss in detail current progresses of approaches for adjusting 2DMs-based photo-catalysts to assess their photo-activity including doping, hetero-structure scheme, and functional formation assembly. Suggested plans, e.g., doping and sensitization of semiconducting 2DMs, increasing electrical conductance, improving catalytic active sites, strengthening interface coupling in semiconductors (SCs) 2DMs, forming nano-structures, building multi-junction nano-composites, increasing photo-stability of SCs, and using combined results of adapted approaches, are summed up. Hence, to further improve 2DMs photo-catalyst properties, hetero-structure design-based 2DMs' photo-catalyst basic mechanism is also reviewed.

Recent advances of two-dimensional materials in smart drug delivery nano-systems

Smart drug delivery nano-systems show significant changes in their physical or chemical properties in response to slight change in environmental physical and/or chemical signals, and further releasing drugs adjusted to the progression of the disease at the right target and rate intelligently. Two-dimensional materials possess dramatic status extend all over various scientific and technological disciplines by reason of their exceptional unique properties in application of smart drug delivery nano-systems. In this review, we summarized current progress to highlight various kinds of two-dimensional materials drug carriers which are widely explored in smart drug delivery systems as well as classification of stimuli responsive two-dimensional materials and the advantages and disadvantages of their applications. Consequently, we anticipate that this review might inspire the development of new two-dimensional materials with smart drug delivery systems, and deepen researchers' understanding of smart nano-carries based on two-dimensional materials.

Solution-processed two-dimensional materials for ultrafast fiber lasers (invited)

Since graphene was first reported as a saturable absorber to achieve ultrafast pulses in fiber lasers, many other two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as topological insulators, transition metal dichalcogenides, black phosphorus, and MXenes, have been widely investigated in fiber lasers due to their broadband operation, ultrafast recovery time, and controllable modulation depth. Recently, solution-processing methods for the fabrication of 2D materials have attracted considerable interest due to their advantages of low cost, easy fabrication, and scalability. Here, we review the various solution-processed methods for the preparation of different 2D materials. Then, the applications and performance of solution-processing-based 2D materials in fiber lasers are discussed. Finally, a perspective of the solution-processed methods and 2D material-based saturable absorbers are presented.

Bismuthene Metallurgy: Transformation of Bismuth Particles to Ultrahigh-Aspect-Ratio 2D Microsheets

Ultrathin bismuth exhibits promising performance for topological insulators due to its narrow band gap and intrinsic strong spin-orbit coupling, as well as for energy-related applications because of its electronic and mechanical properties. However, large-scale production of 2D sheets via liquid-phase exfoliation as an established large-scale method is restricted by the strong interaction between bismuth layers. Here, a sonication method is utilized to produce ultrahigh-aspect-ratio bismuthene microsheets. The studies on the mechanism excludes the exfoliation of the layered bulk bismuth and formation of the microsheets is attributed to the melting of spherical particles (r = 1.5 µm) at a high temperature-generated under the ultrasonic tip-followed by a recrystallization step producing uniformly-shaped ultrathin microsheets (A = 0.5-2 µm² , t: ≈2 nm). Notably, although the preparation is performed in oxygenated aqueous solution, the sheets are not oxidized, and they are stable under ambient conditions for at least 1 month. The microsheets are used to construct a vapor sensor using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as detection technique. The device is highly selective, and it shows long-term stability. Overall, this project exhibits a reproducible method for large-scale preparation of ultrathin bismuthene microsheets in a benign environment, demonstrating opportunities to realize devices based on bismuthene.

Highly stable and repeatable femtosecond soliton pulse generation from saturable absorbers based on two-dimensional Cu3-xP nanocrystals

Heavily doped colloidal plasmonic nanocrystals have attracted great attention because of their lower and adjustable free carrier densities and tunable localized surface plasmonic resonance bands in the spectral range from near-infra to mid-infra wavelengths. With its plasmon-enhanced optical nonlinearity, this new family of plasmonic materials shows a huge potential for nonlinear optical applications, such as ultrafast switching, nonlinear sensing, and pulse laser generation. Cu_3-xP nanocrystals were previously shown to have a strong saturable absorption at the plasmonic resonance, which enabled high-energy Q-switched fiber lasers with 6.1 μs pulse duration. This work demonstrates that both high-quality mode-locked and Q-switched pulses at 1560 nm can be generated by evanescently incorporating two-dimensional (2D) Cu_3-xP nanocrystals onto a D-shaped optical fiber as an effective saturable absorber. The 3 dB bandwidth of the mode-locking optical spectrum is as broad as 7.3 nm, and the corresponding pulse duration can reach 423 fs. The repetition rate of the Q-switching pulses is higher than 80 kHz. Moreover, the largest pulse energy is more than 120 µJ. Note that laser characteristics are highly stable and repeatable based on the results of over 20 devices. This work may trigger further investigations on heavily doped plasmonic 2D nanocrystals as a next-generation, inexpensive, and solution-processed element for fascinating photonics and optoelectronics applications.

Few-layer metal monochalcogenide saturable absorbers for high-energy Q-switched pulse generation

Two-dimensional layered materials have been widely utilized as nonlinear absorption materials to transfer continue-wave into pulse trains in fiber laser systems. Here, we prepare robust GaSe/GeSe composites with high power bearing capacity as saturable absorbers (SAs) and then investigate their nonlinear optical properties via broadband Z-scan measurement at 800 nm and 1550 nm, respectively. The modulation depths of GaSe/GeSe based SAs are measured to be 11.97% and 7.69% at 1550 nm. After incorporating the GaSe/GeSe SAs into an Erbium-doped fiber laser cavity, passively Q-switched pulse trains could be obtained with repetition rates changing from 83.58 to 136.78 kHz (70.41 to 161.65 kHz). The maximum output power and pulse energy are 52.1 mW/370.67 nJ (GaSe) and 21.6 mW/133.74 nJ (GeSe) under the maximum pump power of 600 mW. The results indicate that GaSe and GeSe possess outstanding thermal stability and could be employed as remarkable saturable absorption materials for high-energy pulses generation.

Passively Q-switched and mode-locked erbium-doped fiber lasers based on tellurene nanosheets as saturable absorber

Various two-dimensional (2D) materials show unique optical properties and excellent performance in acting as saturable absorber (SA) for demonstrating all-fiber ultra-fast lasers. Tellurene, as a new-fashioned few-layer 2D monoelemental material, was designed as an excellent saturable absorber to achieve Q-switched and mode-locked operations within erbium-doped fiber (EDF) lasers in our experiment. High-quality tellurene-based SA with a modulation depth of 0.97% was obtained by blending few-layer tellurene nanosheet solution prepared by liquid phase exfoliation method and the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution. Inserting the SA into the EDF laser cavity by sandwiching the tellurene-PVA film between two fiber ferrules, either the passively Q-switched or the passively mode-locked operations can be obtained. The repetition rate varies from 15.92 to 47.61 kHz, and the pulse duration decreases from 8.915 to 5.196 µs in the passively Q-switched operation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration focusing on the modulation application of tellurene in designing Q-switched pulsed laser operations. Additionally, mode-locked operations were also achieved by adjusting the polarization state. The obtained results fully indicate that tellurene can be developed as an efficient SA for pulsed fiber lasers.

Towards visible-wavelength passively mode-locked lasers in all-fibre format

Mode-locked fibre lasers (MLFLs) are fundamental building blocks of many photonic systems used in industrial, scientific and biomedical applications. To date, 1-2 μm MLFLs have been well developed; however, passively mode-locked fibre lasers in the visible region (380-760 nm) have never been reported. Here, we address this challenge by demonstrating an all-fibre visible-wavelength passively mode-locked picosecond laser at 635 nm. The 635 nm mode-locked laser with an all-fibre figure-eight cavity uses a Pr/Yb codoped ZBLAN fibre as the visible gain medium and a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror as the mode-locking element. First, we theoretically predict and analyse the formation and evolution of 635 nm mode-locked pulses in the dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) regime by solving the Ginzburg-Landau equation. Then, we experimentally demonstrate the stable generation of 635 nm DSR mode-locked pulses with a pulse duration as short as ~96 ps, a radio-frequency signal-to-noise ratio of 67 dB and a narrow spectral bandwidth of <0.1 nm. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with our numerical simulations. In addition, we also observe 635 nm noise-like pulse operation with a wide (>1 nm) and modulated optical spectrum. This work represents an important step towards miniaturized ultrafast fibre lasers in the visible spectral region.

Graphene/WS2 heterostructure saturable absorbers for ultrashort pulse generation in L-band passively mode-locked fiber lasers

Graphene/WS₂ (G/WS₂) van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are utilized as saturable absorbers (SAs) in compact mode-locked fiber lasers operating in the telecommunication L-band for the first time. The interlayer coupling is confirmed by Raman and photoluminescence spectra. In comparison with pure WS₂, the heterostructure exhibits excellent nonlinear optical properties in terms of larger modulation depth and lower saturation intensity due to the strong interlayer coupling. By incorporating the G/WS₂-based SA into an all-anomalous-dispersion fiber laser, stable conventional-soliton pulses with a pulse duration down to 660 fs can be realized at 1601.9 nm, manifesting better output performance compared to pure WS₂. In addition, through shifting the cavity dispersion to the net-normal dispersion, the G/WS₂ SA can also be applied for dissipative-soliton generation. Resultant output pulses feature the central wavelength of 1593.5 nm and the pulse duration of 55.6 ps. Our results indicate that the G/WS₂ vdW heterostructure is a promising candidate as SA for pulsed laser applications, which pave the way for the development of novel ultrafast photonic devices with desirable performance.

Characteristic Test Analysis of Graphene Plus Optical Microfiber Coupler Combined Device and Its Application in Fiber Lasers

In this study, a graphene and optical microfiber coupler (OMC) integrated device (GOMC) was proposed and fabricated. After its characteristic analysis and testing, it was applied to the development of adjustable multi-wavelength fiber lasers. By integrating the OMC with graphene, the polarization dependence of OMC was enhanced. Meanwhile, the novel GOMC was given the capabilities of filtering, coupling, beam splitting, and polarization correlation. When the GOMC was integrated as a filter and beam splitter into the ring cavity of the fiber laser, the proposed GOMC-based fiber laser could achieve single-wavelength and multi-wavelength regulated output. The laser had a 3 dB linewidth of less than 30 pm, a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 40 dB, and an output power fluctuation of less than 1 dB. The GOMC could also be used for the development of functional devices, such as adjustable mode lockers and mode coupling selectors, which provide an excellent experimental platform for new fiber lasers and the research of multi-dimensional light-field manipulation.

Niobium disulfide as a new saturable absorber for an ultrafast fiber laser

Group VB transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are emerging two-dimensional materials and have attracted significant interests in the fields of physics, chemistry, and material sciences. However, there are very few reports about the optical characteristics and ultrafast photonic applications based on group VB TMDCs so far. In this work, we have calculated the niobium disulfide (NbS2) band structure by the density functional theory (DFT), which has revealed that NbS2 is a metallic TMDC. In addition, we have prepared an NbS2-microfiber device and the nonlinear optical characteristics have been investigated. The modulation depth, saturation intensity and non-saturable loss have been measured to be 13.7%, 59.93 MW cm-2 and 17.74%, respectively. Based on the nonlinear optical modulation effect, the Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser works in the soliton mode-locking state with the pump power of 94-413 mW. The pulse duration of 709 fs and the maximum average output power of 23.34 mW have been obtained at the pump power of 413 mW. The slope efficiency is as high as 6.79%. Compared to the recently reported studies based on TMDCs comprehensively, our experimental results are better. These experimental results demonstrate that NbS2 with excellent nonlinear optical properties can be used as a promising candidate to advance the development of ultrafast photonics.

Emerging Applications of Elemental 2D Materials

As elemental main group materials (i.e., silicon and germanium) have dominated the field of modern electronics, their monolayer 2D analogues have shown great promise for next-generation electronic materials as well as potential game-changing properties for optoelectronics, energy, and beyond. These atomically thin materials composed of single atomic variants of group III through group VI elements on the periodic table have already demonstrated exciting properties such as near-room-temperature topological insulation in bismuthene, extremely high electron mobilities in phosphorene and silicone, and substantial Li-ion storage capability in borophene. Isolation of these materials within the postgraphene era began with silicene in 2010 and quickly progressed to the experimental identification or theoretical prediction of 15 of the 18 main group elements existing as solids at standard pressure and temperatures. This review first focuses on the significance of defects/functionalization, discussion of different allotropes, and overarching structure-property relationships of 2D main group elemental materials. Then, a complete review of emerging applications in electronics, sensing, spintronics, plasmonics, photodetectors, ultrafast lasers, batteries, supercapacitors, and thermoelectrics is presented by application type, including detailed descriptions of how the material properties may be tailored toward each specific application.

A Deep Ultraviolet Mode-locked Laser Based on a Neural Network

Deep ultraviolet lasers based on the phenomenon of mode-locking have been used widely in many areas in recent years, for example, in semiconductors, the environment and biomedicine. In the development of a mode-locked deep ultraviolet laser, one of the most important aspects is to optimize the multiple parameters of the complex system. Traditional optimization methods require experimenters with more optimization experience, which limits the wide application of the lasers. In this study, we optimize the deep ultraviolet mode-locked laser system using an online neural network to solve this problem. The neural network helps us control the position of the crystal, the length of the cavity, the position of the focusing lens and the temperature of the frequency doubling crystal. We generate a deep ultraviolet mode-locked laser with a power of 18 mW and a spectral center at 205 nm. This result is greatly improved compared to previous results with the same pump power. This technology provides a universal solution to multiparameter problems in the optimization of lasers.

Advances of 2D bismuth in energy sciences

Since graphene has been successfully exfoliated, two-dimensional (2D) materials constitute a vibrant research field and open vast perspectives in high-performance applications. Among them, bismuthene and 2D bismuth (Bi) are unique with superior properties to fabricate state-of-the-art energy saving, storage and conversion devices. The largest experimentally determined bulk gap, even larger than those of stanene and antimonene, allows 2D Bi to be the most promising candidate to construct room-temperature topological insulators. Moreover, 2D Bi exhibits cyclability for high-performance sodium-ion batteries, and the enlarged surface together with the good electrochemical activity renders it an efficient electrocatalyst for energy conversion. Also, the air-stability of 2D Bi is better than that of silicene, germanene, phosphorene and arsenene, which could enable more practical applications. This review aims to thoroughly explore the fundamentals of 2D Bi and its improved fabrication methods, in order to further bridge gaps between theoretical predictions and experimental achievements in its energy-related applications. We begin with an introduction of the status of 2D Bi in the 2D-material family, which is followed by descriptions of its intrinsic properties along with various fabrication methods. The vast implications of 2D Bi for high-performance devices can be envisioned to add a new pillar in energy sciences. In addition, in the context of recent pioneering studies on moiré superlattices of other 2D materials, we hope that the improved manipulation techniques of bismuthene, along with its unique properties, might even enable 2D Bi to play an important role in future energy-related twistronics.

2D materials towards ultrafast photonic applications

Two-dimensional materials are now excelling in yet another arena of ultrafast photonics, including optical modulation through optical limiting/mode-locking, photodetectors, optical communications, integrated miniaturized all-optical devices, etc.

High-power mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser with tungsten ditelluride as saturable absorber

A passively mode-locked thulium-doped fiber laser using a tungsten ditelluride saturable absorber (${{\rm WTe}_2}\mbox{-}{\rm SA}$WTe₂-SA) is demonstrated. High-power mode-locked pulses with an average output power of 108.1 mW were achieved by incorporating the ${{\rm WTe}_2}\mbox{-}{\rm SA}$WTe₂-SA into a thulium-doped fiber oscillator. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest average power obtained from a ${{\rm WTe}_2}\mbox{-}{\rm SA}$WTe₂-SA-based fiber laser. We further amplified the output power to 5.60 W with an all-fiber thulium-doped double-cladding fiber amplifier. Our result indicates that ${{\rm WTe}_2}\mbox{-}{\rm SA}$WTe₂-SA could be an excellent candidate for a high-power fiber laser system.

Recent advances in multiphoton microscopy combined with nanomaterials in the field of disease evolution and clinical applications to liver cancer

Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) is expected to become a powerful clinical tool, with its unique advantages of being label-free, high resolution, deep imaging depth, low light photobleaching and low phototoxicity. Nanomaterials, with excellent physical and chemical properties, are biocompatible and easy to prepare and functionalize. The addition of nanomaterials exactly compensates for some defects of MPM, such as the weak endogenous signal strength, limited imaging materials, insufficient imaging depth and lack of therapeutic effects. Therefore, combining MPM with nanomaterials is a promising biomedical imaging method. Here, we mainly review the principle of MPM and its application in liver cancer, especially in disease evolution and clinical applications, including monitoring tumor progression, diagnosing tumor occurrence, detecting tumor metastasis, and evaluating cancer therapy response. Then, we introduce the latest advances in the combination of MPM with nanomaterials, including the MPM imaging of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and carbon dots (CDs). Finally, we also propose the main challenges and future research directions of MPM technology in HCC.

Mechanism of dissipative soliton stabilization by nonlinear gradient terms

We present a feedback mechanism for dissipative solitons in the cubic complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGL) equation with a nonlinear gradient term. We are making use of a mechanical analog containing contributions from a potential and from a nonlinear viscous term. The feedback mechanism relies on the continuous supply of energy as well as on dissipation of the stable pulse. Our picture is corroborated by the numerical solution of the full equation. A quintic contribution is not necessary for stabilization in the presence of a suitable nonlinear gradient term as we show by using a linear stability analysis for the stationary pulses. We find that the limit of vanishing magnitude of the nonlinear gradient term is singular: For exactly vanishing nonlinear gradient terms stable pulses do not exist. This situation is qualitatively different from that found for the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with a nonlinear gradient term: In this case the limit of a vanishing nonlinear gradient contribution is completely smooth. We demonstrate that, for small magnitude of the nonlinear gradient term simple types of scaling behavior are found for the amplitude, the full width at half maximum (FWHM), the velocity, and the effective frequency of the stable pulse as a function of the magnitude of the nonlinear gradient term.

2D MoTe2 film as a saturable absorber for a wavelength-tunable ultrafast fiber laser

We have demonstrated the realization of wavelength-tunable pulse outputs in a mode-locked fiber laser by utilizing 2D ${{\rm MoTe}_2}$MoTe₂ film as the saturable absorber (SA). The SA is synthesized by coating 2D ${{\rm MoTe}_2}$MoTe₂ film on the pinhole of the fiber pigtail and it can work stably at the mode-locking state for several weeks, indicating that the 2D ${{\rm MoTe}_2}$MoTe₂ film is a suitable SA for ultrafast optics. The ${{\rm MoTe}_2}$MoTe₂ film mode-locked fiber laser can operate well at a wide spectral band, and the central wavelength of pulses is tunable in the range from 1530 to 1560 nm, which is attributed to the polarization-sensitive feature of the proposed SA. Our new SA will benefit high-power pulsed lasers, materials processing, and frequency comb spectroscopy.

2D V-V Binary Materials: Status and Challenges

2D phosphorene, arsenene, antimonene, and bismuthene, as a fast-growing family of 2D monoelemental materials, have attracted enormous interest in the scientific community owing to their intriguing structures and extraordinary electronic properties. Tuning the monoelemental crystals into bielemental ones between group-VA elements is able to preserve their advantages of unique structures, modulate their properties, and further expand their multifunctional applications. Herein, a review of the historical work is provided for both theoretical predictions and experimental advances of 2D V-V binary materials. Their various intriguing electronic properties are discussed, including band structure, carrier mobility, Rashba effect, and topological state. An emphasis is also given to their progress in fabricated approaches and potential applications. Finally, a detailed presentation on the opportunities and challenges in the future development of 2D V-V binary materials is given.

Recent progress in black phosphorus and black-phosphorus-analogue materials: properties, synthesis and applications

Black phosphorus (BP), a novel two-dimensional (2D) layered semiconductor material, has attracted tremendous attention since 2014 due to its prominent carrier mobility, thickness-dependent direct bandgap and in-plane anisotropic physical properties. BP has been considered as a promising material for many applications, such as in transistors, photonics, optoelectronics, sensors, batteries and catalysis. However, the development of BP was hampered by its instability under ambient conditions, as well as by the lack of methods to synthesize large-area and high quality 2D nanofilms. Recently, some BP-analogue materials such as binary phosphides (MPx), transition metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPX3), and 2D group V (pnictogens) and 2D group VI materials have attracted increasing interest for their unique and stable structures, and excellent physical and chemical properties. This article, which focuses on BP and BP-analogue materials, will present their crystal structure, properties, synthesis methods and applications. Also the similarity and difference between BP and BP-analogue materials will be discussed, and the presentation of the future opportunities and challenges of the materials are included at the end.

Nanosecond passively Q-switched fibre laser using a NiS2 based saturable absorber

Q-switched pulse laser generation is successfully demonstrated in both Erbium-doped fibre laser (EDFL) and Thulium-doped fibre laser (TDFL) cavities by employing Nickel disulfide (NiS₂) as a saturable absorber (SA). Q-switched pulse laser operation at 1.55 μm and 2.0 μm is obtained at low pump power levels of 37 mW and 48 mW, respectively. For the EDFL, stable passively Q-switched laser output at a wavelength of 1561.86 nm is achieved, with a minimum pulse duration of 237 ns and a repetition rate of 243.9 kHz. For the TDFL, the centre wavelength of the laser output is 1915.5 nm, with a minimum pulse duration of 505 ns and a repetition rate of 214.68 kHz. NiS₂ is used as SA for Q-switched laser generation over a broadband wavelength for the first time.

Dual-Band Plasmonic Perfect Absorber Based on Graphene Metamaterials for Refractive Index Sensing Application

We demonstrate a dual-band plasmonic perfect absorber (PA) based on graphene metamaterials. Two absorption peaks (22.5 μm and 74.5 μm) with the maximal absorption of 99.4% and 99.9% have been achieved, respectively. We utilize this perfect absorber as a plasmonic sensor for refractive index (RI) sensing. It has the figure of merit (FOM) of 10.8 and 3.2, and sensitivities of about 5.6 and 17.2 μm/RIU, respectively. Hence, the designed dual-band PA-based RI sensor exhibits good sensing performance in the infrared regime, which offers great potential applications in various biomedical, tunable spectral detecting, environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics.

Continuously wavelength-tunable mode-locked Tm fiber laser using stretched SMF-GIMF-SMF structure as both saturable absorber and filter

We demonstrate, for the first time, use of a stretched single mode-graded-index multimode-single mode fiber (SMF-GIMF-SMF) structure as a saturable absorber (SA) for a passively mode-locked Tm fiber laser. Such an all-fiber SA was based on the nonlinear multimode interference (NL-MMI). Stable fundamentally mode-locking operation was obtained at a pump threshold of 100mW. The output soliton pulses had a center wavelength, spectral width, pulse duration, and repetition rate of 1931 nm, 3.77 nm, 1.2ps, and 19.94 MHz, respectively. Furthermore, the SMF-GIMF-SMF structure can also be used as a filter to tune the laser. Continuously tunable mode-locking was experimentally demonstrated only by varying the stretched length of GIMF. Our results indicate that the stretched SMF-GIMF-SMF structure could serve as a SA together with a bandpass filter, which makes it advantageous for wavelength-tunable mode locking lasers.

Versatile Mode-Locked Operations in an Er-Doped Fiber Laser with a Film-Type Indium Tin Oxide Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate the generation of versatile mode-locked operations in an Er-doped fiber laser with an indium tin oxide (ITO) saturable absorber (SA). As an epsilon-near-zero material, ITO has been only used to fashion a mode-locked fiber laser as an ITO nanoparticle-polyvinyl alcohol SA. However, this type of SA cannot work at high power or ensure that the SA materials can be transmitted by the light. Thus, we covered the end face of a fiber with a uniform ITO film using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technology to fabricate a novel ITO SA. Using this new type of SA, single-wavelength pulses, dual-wavelength pulses, and triple-wavelength multi-pulses were achieved easily. The pulse durations of these mode-locked operations were 1.67, 6.91, and 1 ns, respectively. At the dual-wavelength mode-locked state, the fiber laser could achieve an output power of 2.91 mW and a pulse energy of 1.48 nJ. This study reveals that such a proposed film-type ITO SA has excellent nonlinear absorption properties, which can promote the application of ITO film for ultrafast photonics.

Two-dimensional tellurium-polymer membrane for ultrafast photonics

Tellurium (Te) exhibits many intriguing properties including thermoelectricity, photoelectricity, piezoelectricity, and photoconductivity, and is widely used in detectors, sensors, transistors, and energy devices. Herein, ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) Te nanosheets were fabricated using a facile and cost-effective liquid-phase exfoliation method. Mixing the as-prepared 2D Te nanosheets with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) provided a uniform 2D Te/PVP membrane. The 2D Te/PVP membrane exhibited excellent mechanical properties, thermal properties, and stability. The nonlinear optical properties of the membrane were characterized over the spectral range of 800 to 1550 nm using open-aperture Z-scan technology. A large nonlinear absorption coefficient of about 10-1 cm GW-1 over the whole tested wavelength range demonstrated the efficient broadband saturable absorptivity of the 2D Te/PVP membrane. Using the 2D Te/PVP membrane as a saturable absorber (SA), a highly stable femtosecond laser with a pulse duration of 829 fs in the communication band was obtained. This work highlights the promise of 2D Te/PVP membranes in ultrafast photonics and Te as a new 2D material for use in photonic devices such as all-optical modulators, switches, and thresholds.

Bismuth quantum dots as an optical saturable absorber for a 1.3 μm Q-switched solid-state laser

Two-dimensional bismuth has attracted extensive attention for its unique properties, such as a moderate bandgap, high carrier mobility, and high stability. In this work, a uniform bismuth quantum dots saturable absorber (BiQDs-SA) was successfully fabricated by the liquid-phase exfoliation method. It was successfully employed in a passively Q-switched bulk laser operating at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.3 μm. The as-fabricated BiQDs-SA-based 1.3 μm Q-switched laser not only exhibits low timing jitter but also shows long-term stability for several days. The maximum average output power of 125 mW was obtained with the shortest pulse width of 510 ns and repetition rate of 135 kHz, corresponding to single-pulse energy and pulse peak power of 0.9 μJ and 1.8 W, respectively. The results indicate that BiQDs-SA is a potential optical modulator for passively Q-switched solid-state lasers.

Optical Nonlinearity of ZrS₂ and Applications in Fiber Laser

Group VIB transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been successfully demonstrated as saturable absorbers (SAs) for pulsed fiber lasers. For the group comprising IVB TMDs, applications in this field remain unexplored. In this work, ZrS₂-based SA is prepared by depositing a ZrS₂ nanostructured film onto the side surface of a D-shaped fiber. The nonlinear optical properties of the prepared SA are investigated, which had a modulation depth of 3.3% and a saturable intensity of 13.26 MW/cm². In a pump power range of 144⁻479 mW, the Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser with ZrS₂ can operate in the dual-wavelength Q-switching state. The pulse duration declined from 10.0 μs down to 2.3 μs. The single pulse energy reached 53.0 nJ. The usage of ZrS₂ as a SA for pulse generation in fiber lasers is presented for the first time. Compared to the experimental results of dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber lasers with two-dimensional (2D) materials, our laser performance was better. Our work indicates that the group comprising IVB TMD ZrS₂ has bright prospects for nonlinear optical applications.

Mode-Locked Er-Doped Fiber Laser by Using MoS2/SiO2 Saturable Absorber

The two-dimensional (2D) layered material MoS₂ has attracted numerous attentions for electronics and optoelectronics applications. In this work, a novel type of MoS₂-doped sol-gel glass composite material is prepared. The nonlinear optical properties of prepared MoS₂/SiO₂ composite material are measured with modulation depth (ΔT) of 3.5% and saturable intensity (I_sat) of 20.15 MW/cm². The optical damage threshold is 3.46 J/cm². Using the MoS₂/SiO₂ composite material as saturable absorber (SA), a passive mode-locked Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser is realized. Stable conventional soliton mode-locking pulses are successfully generated with a pulse width of 780 fs at the pump power of 90 mW. In the pump power range of 100-600 mW, another stable mode-locking operation is obtained. The pulse width is 1.21 ps and the maximum output power is 5.11 mW. The results indicate that MoS₂/SiO₂ composite materials could offer a new way for optical applications.

Emerging 2D materials beyond graphene for ultrashort pulse generation in fiber lasers

Ultrafast fiber lasers have significant applications in ultra-precision manufacturing, medical diagnostics, medical treatment, precision measurement and astronomical detection, owing to their ultra-short pulse width and ultra-high peak-power. Since graphene was first explored as an optical saturable absorber for passively mode-locked lasers in 2009, many other 2D materials beyond graphene, including phosphorene, antimonene, bismuthene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), topological insulators (TIs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and MXenes, have been successively explored, resulting in rapid development of novel 2D materials-based saturable absorbers. Herein, we review the latest progress of the emerging 2D materials beyond graphene for passively mode-locked fiber laser application. These 2D materials are classified into mono-elemental, dual-elemental and multi-elemental 2D materials. The atomic structure, band structure, nonlinear optical properties, and preparation methods of 2D materials are summarized. Diverse integration strategies for applying 2D materials into fiber laser systems are introduced, and the mode-locking performance of the 2D materials-based fiber lasers working at 1-3 μm are discussed. Finally, the perspectives and challenges facing 2D materials-based mode-locked fiber lasers are highlighted.

Tunable Multipolar Fano Resonances and Electric Field Enhancements in Au Ring-Disk Plasmonic Nanostructures

We theoretically research the characteristics of tunable multipolar Fano resonances in novel-designed Au ring-disk plasmonic nanostructures. We systematically study some structural parameters that influence the multipolar Fano resonances of the nanostructures. Adjustment of the radius (R₁ and R₂) of the Au ring, the radius (R₃) of the Au disk and the thickness (H) of the Au ring-disk can effectively adjust the multipolar Fano resonances. The complex field distributions excited by a Au ring-disk can produce dark resonance modes. At the frequency of the multipolar Fano resonances, strong localized field distributions can be obtained. The Fano resonances exhibit strong light-extinction properties in Au ring-disk nanostructures, which can be applied to an optical tunable filter and optical switch.