High-quality 2-μm Q-switched pulsed solid-state lasers using spin-coating-coreduction approach synthesized Bi₂Te₃ topological insulators

Abstract

In this paper, the fabrication process and characterization of Bi2Te3 topological insulators (TIs) synthesized by the spin-coating-coreduction approach (SCCA) is reported. With this approach, high-uniformity nano-crystalline TI saturable absorbers (TISAs) with large-area uniformity and controllable thickness are prepared. By employing these prepared TIs with different thicknesses as SAs in 2-μm solid-state Q-switched lasers, thickness-dependent output powers and pulse durations of the laser pulses are obtained, and the result also exhibits stability and reliability. The shortest pulse duration is as short as 233 ns, and the corresponding clock amplitude jitter is around 2.1%, which is the shortest pulse duration in TISA-based Q-switched 2-μm lasers to the best of our knowledge. Moreover, in comparison with the TISA synthesized by the ultrasound-assisted liquid phase exfoliation (UALPE) method, the experimental results show that lasers with SCCA synthesized TISAs have higher output powers, shorter pulse durations, and higher pulse peak powers. Our work suggests that the SCCA synthesized TISAs could be used as potential SAs in pulsed lasers.