Stable passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser incorporating a PbS quantum dots polystyrene composite film based saturable absorber

Appl Opt. 2018 Apr 20;57(12):3231-3236. doi: 10.1364/AO.57.003231.

Abstract

We demonstrated a passively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using PbS quantum dots in polystyrene films (QDPFs) as saturable absorbers (SAs). Compared to other SAs, PbS QDPFs have advantages of broad absorption range, high quantum yield, low cost, and facile preparation. We have successfully generated stable Q-switched pulses with an average output power of 40.19 mW, a single pulse energy of 586.1 nJ, a repetition rate of 68.04 kHz, a pulse width of 3.9 μs, and a signal-to-noise ratio of 50.5 dB under 660 mW pump power. The output of the EDFL has been monitored for 5 consecutive hours under laboratory conditions to show stable operation of the laser system.