Graphene mode locked ultrafast fiber lasers

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally that few atomic layer graphene possesses ultrafast, super broadband saturable absorption, which can be exploited to passive mode lock fiber lasers of different operation wavelengths. Passive mode locking performance of an erbium-doped fiber laser operating at the 1.55μm and an ytterbium-doped fiber laser operating at the 1.06μm with a graphene saturable absorber mirror has been experimentally demonstrated, and wavelength tuneable solitons, vector solitons, as well as the bound state of solitons have been observed. © 2011 SPIE.