Q-switched pulse generation in a bidirectionally pumped EDFL utilizing Lu2O3 as saturable absorber

Abstract:

In this paper, we have successfully demonstrated a Q-switched pulse generation utilizing lutetium oxide (Lu2O3) thin film based saturable absorber (SA) in all-fiber erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity with a bidirectional pumping. The Lu2O3 powder is mixed with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution before we add polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as our host polymer to make the Lu2O3 into a thin film. By inserting the Lu2O3-PVA thin film into a bidirectional pumped EDFL cavity, a stable Q-switched pulse is realized with repetition rate in a range of rose from 43.67 kHz to 57.74 kHz whereas the pulse width decreased from 14.48 µs to 11.20 µs. This result indicates that the Lu2O3 can be implemented as an SA device in an EDFL as it owns a linear absorption of around 3 dB at 1 567 nm.