Black phosphorus saturable absorber for ultrashort pulse generation
- Laser and Fiber Electronics Group, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, Wroclaw 50-370 (Poland)
- Faculty of Microsystem Electronics and Photonics, Wroclaw University of Technology, Janiszewskiego 11/17, Wroclaw 50-372 (Poland)
Low-dimensional materials, due to their unique and versatile properties, are very interesting for numerous applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Recently rediscovered black phosphorus, with a graphite-like layered structure, can be effectively exfoliated up to the single atomic layer called phosphorene. Contrary to graphene, it possesses a direct band gap controllable by the number of stacked atomic layers. For those reasons, black phosphorus is now intensively investigated and can complement or replace graphene in various photonics and electronics applications. Here, we demonstrate that black phosphorus can serve as a broadband saturable absorber and can be used for ultrashort optical pulse generation. The mechanically exfoliated ∼300 nm thick layers of black phosphorus were transferred onto the fiber core, and under pulsed excitation at 1560 nm wavelength, its transmission increases by 4.6%. We have demonstrated that the saturable absorption of black phosphorus is polarization sensitive. The fabricated device was used to mode-lock an Er-doped fiber laser. The generated optical solitons with the 10.2 nm bandwidth and 272 fs duration were centered at 1550 nm. The obtained results unambiguously show that black phosphorus can be effectively used for ultrashort pulse generation with performances similar or even better than currently used graphene or carbon nanotubes. This application of black phosphorus proves its great potential to future practical use in photonics.
- OSTI ID:
- 22489049
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Facile bottom-up synthesis of partially oxidized black phosphorus nanosheets as metal-free photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution
0.4-1.4 {mu}m Visible to Near-Infrared Widely Broadened Super Continuum Generation with Er-doped Ultrashort Pulse Fiber Laser System