Q-SWITCHED PULSE GENERATION UTILIZING A THIN-FILM TITANIUM ALUMINUM CARBIDE SATURABLE ABSORBER IN MODE-LOCKED ERBIUM-DOPED FIBER LASER
by Ayden Victory Haoken
Category: STEM
Abstract – In this paper, a Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) utilizing a saturable absorber (SA) based on Titanium Aluminum Carbide (Ti3AlC2,) film was presented. A stable Q-switched pulse generation is achieved by successfully combining Ti3AlC2, a MAX phase material, with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form a saturable absorber (SA) film. The SA was then added to an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity to modulate the cavity loss for Q-switching, resulting in a Q-switched laser at 1560 nm. By increasing the pump power from 71.53 mW to 102.83 mW, the pulse width was varied between 6.30 μs and 4.78 μs, with a corresponding higher repetition rate range from 50.15 kHz to 58.14 kHz. At a pump power of 102.83 mW, a pulse energy of 50.57 nJ was obtained. The fundamental frequency signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was recorded at 40.73 dB, indicating the stability of the laser. The experimental demonstration presented in this paper reveals the potential of micrometer-sized MAX-phase particles as low-cost, practical, and effective saturable absorbers.