We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Wideband-tuneable, nanotube mode-locked, fibre laser.
- Authors
Wang, F; Rozhin, A G; Scardaci, V; Sun, Z; Hennrich, F; White, I H; Milne, W I; Ferrari, A C
- Abstract
Ultrashort-pulse lasers with spectral tuning capability have widespread applications in fields such as spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications. Mode-locked fibre lasers are convenient and powerful sources of ultrashort pulses, and the inclusion of a broadband saturable absorber as a passive optical switch inside the laser cavity may offer tuneability over a range of wavelengths. Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors are widely used in fibre lasers, but their operating range is typically limited to a few tens of nanometres, and their fabrication can be challenging in the 1.3-1.5 microm wavelength region used for optical communications. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are excellent saturable absorbers because of their subpicosecond recovery time, low saturation intensity, polarization insensitivity, and mechanical and environmental robustness. Here, we engineer a nanotube-polycarbonate film with a wide bandwidth (>300 nm) around 1.55 microm, and then use it to demonstrate a 2.4 ps Er(3+)-doped fibre laser that is tuneable from 1,518 to 1,558 nm. In principle, different diameters and chiralities of nanotubes could be combined to enable compact, mode-locked fibre lasers that are tuneable over a much broader range of wavelengths than other systems.
- Publication
Nature nanotechnology, 2008, Vol 3, Issue 12, p738
- ISSN
1748-3395
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/nnano.2008.312