中国物理B ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1): 14205-014205.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ad8db3

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Femtosecond mode-locking and soliton molecule generation based on a GaAs saturable absorber

Chen-Yan Zhang(张辰妍)1,†, Xin-He Dou(窦鑫河)1,†, Zhen Chen(陈震)1, Jing-Han Zhao(赵靖涵)1, Wei Sun(孙薇)1, Ze-Yu Fan(樊泽宇)1, Tao Zhang(张涛)1, Hao Teng(滕浩)2, and Zhi-Guo Lv(吕志国)1,‡   

  1. 1 School of Physical Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China;
    2 Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 收稿日期:2024-09-24 修回日期:2024-10-20 接受日期:2024-11-01 发布日期:2024-12-06
  • 通讯作者: Zhi-Guo Lv E-mail:lvzhiguo@imu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12164030), Young Science and Technology Talents of Inner Mongolia, China (Grant No. NJYT22101), the Central Government Guides Local Science, the Technology Development Fund Projects (Grant No. 2023ZY0005), and the Science and Technology Plan Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China (Grant No. 2023KYPT0012).

Femtosecond mode-locking and soliton molecule generation based on a GaAs saturable absorber

Chen-Yan Zhang(张辰妍)1,†, Xin-He Dou(窦鑫河)1,†, Zhen Chen(陈震)1, Jing-Han Zhao(赵靖涵)1, Wei Sun(孙薇)1, Ze-Yu Fan(樊泽宇)1, Tao Zhang(张涛)1, Hao Teng(滕浩)2, and Zhi-Guo Lv(吕志国)1,‡   

  1. 1 School of Physical Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China;
    2 Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • Received:2024-09-24 Revised:2024-10-20 Accepted:2024-11-01 Published:2024-12-06
  • Contact: Zhi-Guo Lv E-mail:lvzhiguo@imu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12164030), Young Science and Technology Talents of Inner Mongolia, China (Grant No. NJYT22101), the Central Government Guides Local Science, the Technology Development Fund Projects (Grant No. 2023ZY0005), and the Science and Technology Plan Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China (Grant No. 2023KYPT0012).

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摘要： In the last few years, research on advanced ultrafast photonic devices has attracted great interest from laser physicists. As a semiconductor material with excellent nonlinear saturation absorption characteristics, GaAs has been used in solid-state and fiber lasers as a mode-locker. However, the pulse widths that have been reported in the searchable published literature are all long and the shortest is tens of picoseconds. Femtosecond pulse widths, desired for a variety of applications, have not yet been reported in GaAs-based pulsed lasers. In this work, we further explore the nonlinear characteristics of GaAs that has been magnetron sputtered onto the surface of a tapered fiber and its application in the generation of femtosecond lasing via effective dispersion optimization and nonlinearity management. With the enhanced interaction between evanescent waves and GaAs nanosheets, mode-locked soliton pulses as short as 830 fs are generated at repetition rates of 4.64 MHz. As far as we know, this is the first time that femtosecond-level pulses have been generated with a GaAs-based saturable absorber. In addition, soliton molecules, including in the dual-pulse state, are also realized under stronger pumping. This work demonstrates that GaAs-based photonic devices have good application prospects in effective polymorphous ultrashort pulsed laser generation.

关键词: GaAs, saturable absorber, mode-locking, soliton molecule

Abstract: In the last few years, research on advanced ultrafast photonic devices has attracted great interest from laser physicists. As a semiconductor material with excellent nonlinear saturation absorption characteristics, GaAs has been used in solid-state and fiber lasers as a mode-locker. However, the pulse widths that have been reported in the searchable published literature are all long and the shortest is tens of picoseconds. Femtosecond pulse widths, desired for a variety of applications, have not yet been reported in GaAs-based pulsed lasers. In this work, we further explore the nonlinear characteristics of GaAs that has been magnetron sputtered onto the surface of a tapered fiber and its application in the generation of femtosecond lasing via effective dispersion optimization and nonlinearity management. With the enhanced interaction between evanescent waves and GaAs nanosheets, mode-locked soliton pulses as short as 830 fs are generated at repetition rates of 4.64 MHz. As far as we know, this is the first time that femtosecond-level pulses have been generated with a GaAs-based saturable absorber. In addition, soliton molecules, including in the dual-pulse state, are also realized under stronger pumping. This work demonstrates that GaAs-based photonic devices have good application prospects in effective polymorphous ultrashort pulsed laser generation.

Key words: GaAs, saturable absorber, mode-locking, soliton molecule

中图分类号:  (Fiber lasers)

  • 42.55.Wd
42.60.-v (Laser optical systems: design and operation) 42.60.Fc (Modulation, tuning, and mode locking) 42.60.Gd (Q-switching)