An All‐Optical, Actively Q‐Switched Fiber Laser by an Antimonene‐Based Optical Modulator

TLDR

Q‑switched fiber lasers are widely used in industrial processing, nonlinear frequency conversion, and spectroscopy, yet passive Q‑switching suffers from absorber degradation, failure, and difficulty tuning the repetition rate. The study aims to develop an active Q‑switching approach that allows external modulation of the cavity quality factor. An actively Q‑switched laser using an antimonene‑based all‑optical modulator with 48 % photo‑thermal efficiency and broadband response was designed. The laser achieves all‑optically tunable repetition rates, environmental stability, and easy synchronization, and the antimonene modulator’s large depth, low energy use, and high efficiency suggest strong potential for optical information processing and pulsed laser engineering.

Abstract

Abstract Q‐switched fiber lasers are of great interest in industrial material processing, nonlinear frequency conversion, spectroscopy etc. However, passive Q‐switching possesses drawbacks of degradation and failure of the saturable absorber and the difficulty in accurate modification of the repetition rate. To overcome these issues, active Q‐switching that can normally modulate the cavity quality‐factor by an externally‐driven Q‐switcher is in high demand. Herein, an actively Q‐switched laser with antimonene‐based all‐optical modulator is devised based on the high photo‐thermal efficiency (48%) and broadband response in antimonene. It is demonstrated that this actively modulated laser represents all‐optically tunable output parameters (e.g., output repetition rate), environmental stability, and easy synchronization. It is anticipated that this actively antimonene‐based all‐optical modulator with advantages of large modulation depth, low energy consumption, and high conversion efficiency has great potential in all‐optical information processing and pulsed laser engineering.