Passively Q-switched Nd:YAlO_3 nanosecond laser using MoS_2 as saturable absorber

Abstract

We report on the first passively Q-switched Nd:YAlO₃ laser at ~1079.5 nm using MoS₂ as saturable absorber. The MoS₂ saturable absorber is fabricated by transferring the liquid-phase-exfoliated MoS₂ nanosheets onto a BK7 glass substrate. By inserting the glass MoS₂ saturable absorber into a plano-concave Nd:YAlO₃ laser cavity, we obtain a stable Q-switched laser operation with a maximum average output power of 0.26 W corresponding to a pulse repetition rate of 232.5 kHz, a pulse width of 227 ns and a pulse energy of about 1.11 μJ. The results experimentally confirm the promising application of the new kind of 2D material, few-layer MoS₂, in solid state lasers.