Herein, a PbSe quantum dot-doped-mode-locked fiber laser is experimentally demonstrated. A PbSe quantum dot-doped fiber is prepared using a melting method and induced as a gain medium in our mode-locked fiber laser. By increasing the pump power, a stable pulse train is obtained with a pulse duration of 36 ps, a pulse repetition rate of 4.5 MHz, an average laser power of 9.8 mW, and a central wavelength of 1214.5 nm. The pulse duration can be changed by adjusting the PC or increasing the pump power. The maximum laser power obtained was 42.7 mW under the pump power of 800 mW. Our results prove that a quantum dot-doped-mode-locked fiber laser is achievable, which provides a new scheme to solve wavelength problem of rare-earth-doped mode-locked fiber lasers.
Keywords: PbSe; laser; picosecond pulse; quantum dot; wavelength tuning.