Recent advances in mode-locked fiber lasers based on two-dimensional materials

Junli Wang; Xiaoli Wang; Jingjing Lei; Mengyuan Ma; Cong Wang; Yanqi Ge; Zhiyi Wei

doi:10.1515/nanoph-2020-0149

Open Access Published by De Gruyter June 24, 2020

Recent advances in mode-locked fiber lasers based on two-dimensional materials

Junli Wang , Xiaoli Wang , Jingjing Lei , Mengyuan Ma , Cong Wang , Yanqi Ge and Zhiyi Wei

From the journal Nanophotonics

https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0149

Abstract

Due to the unique properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, much attention has been paid to the exploration and application of 2D materials. In this review, we focus on the application of 2D materials in mode-locked fiber lasers. We summarize the synthesis methods for 2D materials, fiber integration with 2D materials and 2D materials based saturable absorbers. We discuss the performance of the diverse mode-locked fiber lasers in the typical operating wavelength such as 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 μm. Finally, a summary and outlook of the further applications of the new materials in mode-locked fiber lasers are presented.

Keywords: fiber laser; mode-locked; saturable absorber; two-dimensional materials

1 Introduction

Ultrafast lasers have attracted increasingly attention in the laser science and technology fields such as precision machining [1], [2], [3] and biomedical treatment [4], [5], owing to their high peak power and ultrashort pulses. Meanwhile, the nanotechnology and materials also have been developed widely, due to the continuous progress of ultrafast lasers. Nanotechnology is a powerful tool to investigate and fabricate many emerging materials such as zero-dimensional quantum dots, one-dimensional nanowires, 2D single-atom and three-dimensional nanoballs materials. Physicochemical properties of the materials depend on their structures. Due to the unique properties [6], [7], [8], [9], 2D materials have been widely studied and anticipated to have more influence on a diversity of applications. Up to now, the 2D materials family have carbon material [10], [11], [12], graphene [13], [14], [15], [16], transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) [17], [18], [19], topological insulators (TIs) [20], [21], [22], [23], black phosphorus (BP) [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], MXenes, etc. [29], [30], [31], [32]. In recent several decades, the above 2D materials have been utilized as the nonlinear materials to generate Q-switched and mode-locked lasers. The fiber lasers have many advantages over the other lasers especially the all solid-state lasers due to their compact, high efficiency, robust, free maintenance and low cost [33], [34], [35], [36]. Figure 1 shows (a) the evolution of optical systems and (b) evolution of nonlinear optical devices, whose sizes are both reduced dramatically from meters to millimeters and even nanometers. There are plenty of researches on new 2D materials for the generation of mode-locked fiber lasers [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], sensors [46], optical switchers and modulators [47], [48], [49], [50], optoelectrical devices [51], [52], [53], [54], [55] and biomedicine [56], [57], [58], [59], [60]. In this work, we review the emerging low dimensional materials and their application of the nonlinear optical properties in the mode-locked fiber lasers. The synthesis methods for 2D materials, fiber integration with 2D materials, especially 2D materials based saturable absorbers (SAs) are summarized. In addition, we discuss and compare the performances of diverse mode-locked fiber lasers in typical operating wavelength such as 1, 1.5, 2 μm and beyond 2 μm. In summary, the outlook and suggestions about the applications of the new materials in mode-locked fiber lasers are given.

Figure 1:

(a) Evolution of optical systems and (b) nonlinear optical devices. Reprinted from ref. [63].

2 Structures and properties of 2D materials

Unlike in bulk materials, the electrons in 2D materials can only move freely in two dimensions, resulting in excellent characteristics such as electron transmission performance, optical and thermal properties. In 2014, Novoselov et al. first exfoliated high-quality single-atom-thick graphene from graphite [61]. After that, a number of novel 2D materials, such as BP, TMD, TIs, MXenes and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) [62], have been continuously explored. These 2D materials exhibit excellent optical and electrical properties, due to the controlled atomic layer thickness and band gap structure. Therefore, in this section, we focus on the structures and properties of 2D materials.

2.1 Graphene

As we all known, graphene is a single-atom-thick graphite, in which sp² hybridized carbon atoms form a planar hexatomic ring structure. The spacing between two adjacent carbon atoms is about 1.42Å [64]. The absorption capability of the almost completely transparent graphene is about 2.3% of the incident light in the infrared visible spectrum [65]. Graphene has excellent optoelectronic and optical properties, such as superior thermal conductivity and high charge carrier mobility. In addition, graphene exhibits good nonlinear optical properties, such as saturable absorption [66], Kerr effect [67], multi-wave mixing [68] and so on. Graphene, a typical semiconductor with a zero-bandgap structure, shows obvious saturable absorption properties when irradiated by high-intensity light. However, the low modulation depth of graphene due to weak absorption characteristics limits its applications in specific wavelength and makes it difficult to achieve ultrashort pulses. Although a higher modulation depth can be obtained by increasing the number of graphene layers, it also increases additional non-saturation loss.

2.2 TMD

TMD are another kind of novel 2D materials with the chemical formula of MX₂, where typically M represents transition metal atom (Mo, W, Re, Ni, Nb, etc.) and X is a chalcogen element (S, Se or Te). Monolayer MX₂ consists of one M layer sandwiched by two X layers. The atoms in the plane are linked by chemical bonds, while the layers are stacked on each other through weak van der Waals forces [69] as depicted in Figure 2 (a). Figure 2(b) and (c) show the atomic force microscope (AFM) image and Raman spectrum of monolayer MoS₂, respectively [70]. In general, the TMD band structure can be gradually transformed from indirect to direct bandgap (1–2 eV), as the layer thickness decreases from multilayers to a single monolayer [71]. It is this unique structure that lead to a wide range of optical, electrical and thermal properties of TMD [72], [73], which are used in transistors, gas sensing, photocatalytic, photo-detecting and other fileds [74], [75], [76], [77].

Figure 2:

Structure and characteristics of TMD, BP and MXenes. (a) The schematic structure of TMDs, (b) AFM image of MoS₂, and (c) Raman spectrum of monolayer MoS₂. (d) 2D view of the layered BP structure, (e) HR-TEM images of phosphorene and (f) Raman spectras of BP with different numbers of layers. (g) The schematic structure of MAX phase and the corresponding Mxenes, (h) TEM image with scale of 200 nm and (i) The linear absorption spectral of Ti₃CT₂. (a) [69], (b, c) [70], (d–f) [78], (g) [87], (h, i) [88].

2.3 BP

Similar to graphene, a BP monolayer is consisting of a puckered honeycomb structure, in which a single phosphorus atom is connected to three adjacent phosphorus atoms through a covalent bond, and the individual molecule layers interact through weak van der Waals forces (shown in Figure 1(d)). Figure 2(e) and (f) give the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) image and layer-dependent Raman spectra of BP [78]. BP has a tunable direct bandgap from 0.3 eV (bulk structure) to 1.5 eV (single layer), connecting the band gap between graphene (zero bandgap) and TMD. Importantly, with increasing layers number, the bandgap decrease [79]. Also, with regard to the BP bandgap, the corresponding wavelength is between 0.6 and 4.0 μm, covering the visible band to infrared region. BP has been widely used in the field of field-effect transistors, photodetectors and solar cells due to the anisotropic in-plane optical, electrical and thermal properties caused by the BP puckered structure [80], [81], [82]. However, it is worth noting that BP is highly unstable in the air, which is a quite critical issue and challenge for practical applications.

2.4 TIs

TIs are a class of materials with topological electronic properties. Typical TIs include bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃), bismuth selenide (Bi₂Se₃), antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃), etc. [83]. This type of material has an insulating body state, but the material exhibits metallic properties on the surface due to the existence of a zero-gap Dirac-like electronic bandgap (0.2–0.3 eV) similar to graphene [84]. TIs have an ultra-wide saturation absorption band, extending from visible light to the mid-infrared band. TIs can be used for generating ultrashort pulse lasers due to its narrow band gap and high modulation depth [85]. However, its electron relaxation time is relatively long, which indicates that it is a slow saturable absorber material comparing with graphene [86].

2.5 MXenes

MXenes are a class of 2D transition metal carbides, nitrides or carbonitrides with a general formula of M_n+1AX_n (n = 1,2 or 3), where typically M represents transition metal atom (Sc, Ti, Cr, V, Nb, Hf, Ta, etc.), X is carbide and/or nitride and T stands for surface termination unit (O, F, OH, etc.) as shown in Figure 2(g) [87]. MXenes are mainly produced by selective acid etching of the raw MAX phase.

The MAX phases are all hexagonally layered with P6₃/mmc symmetry, where the M layers are almost closely packed, and X atoms fill the octahedral sites. Element A atomic layer is interleaved with M_n+1X_n layers [87]. There are many reports on the characteristics of the MXene. For example, Figure 2(h) and (i) show a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image and the absorption spectrum of Ti₃C₂T_x, reported by Wang [88]. Nowadays, MXene has shown huge potential in diverse fields such as electrochemical catalysis, sensors, photoacoustic imaging, ultrafast photonics, etc. [89], [90], [91], [92], due to the advantages of flexible and adjustable composition, controllable thickness and optical, electrical, magnetic properties [93]. Meanwhile, the application of MXenes on ultrafast photonics also have been achieved and demonstrated.

In summary, these 2D materials have many practical applications in sensing, defense, military, biomedical, industrial processing, and other filed due to their unique layered structure and electrical, optical characteristics. However, with the continuous discoveries and researches of 2D materials, the saturable absorption characteristics and pulse shaping mechanism of 2D materials have also been continuously confirmed. Therefore, the ultrafast pulse laser technology based on these 2D materials has attracted much attention both in fundamental researches and in practical applications.

3 Synthesis methods for 2D materials

As shown in Figure 3 [94], the synthesis methods of 2D materials can generally be divided into two types: the top down stripping method and the bottom up growth method.

Figure 3:

Classification of fabrication methods of 2D materials. Reprinted from ref. [94].

The top down stripping methods include mechanical exfoliation (ME), liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), chemical exfoliation and laser thinning, which strips bulk materials into mono- or few-layer 2D nanosheets by breaking the van der Waals force between layers [95]. Bottom-up methods, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), can directly produce high-quality thin-film materials on molecular level by precisely controlling the chemical reactions between solid precursors. Here, we will briefly introduce three of the material preparation methods that are widely used in mode-locked fiber lasers, including LPE, CVD, and ME.

3.1 ME

The ME technique is widely adopted in the fabrication of atomically and few layers thick sheets of 2D layered inorganic materials [96], [97], [98], [99]. By overcoming the van der Waals force and breaking apart layers from bulk materials, researchers can obtain high quality 2D mono- and few-layer materials. Because of its simplicity and ability to produce high-quality few-layer materials, this technique was firstly utilized in discovering graphene from graphite flakes by Geim and Novoselov in 2004 [100], [101]. The exfoliated mono- or few-layer materials have high completeness and less defects, which are suitable for fundamental scientific research. However, the monolayer yield of this process is extremely low; hence, this method is only suitable for laboratory scale studies and cannot be utilized for large-scale production for high-end technological application.

ME using scotch-tape has been reported in many studies for the synthesis of other 2D materials. Monolayer BP is often obtained by this method. In order to minimize the material’s exposure to the ambient, Zenghui Wang et al. [102] incorporate special steps uniquely developed to facilitate the transfer of BP after exfoliation. As shown in Figure 4, they carefully stamped a small rectangular piece of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, whose protection layers were peeled off on both sides, onto a clean glass slide. The BP samples were then exfoliated for dozens of times before transferred onto the PDMS stamp quickly. BP flakes were carefully inspected under optical microscope to identify promising candidates for device fabrication, and stored in vacuum chamber immediately afterward for further investigation.

Figure 4:

Steps involved in the flake preparation and transfer process. Reproduced with permission [102].

Although this process is relatively simple, fast and cost effective, it has certain disadvantages. The monolayer obtained by this process is extremely low and repeated operation is required. Hence, this method is only suitable for laboratory scale studies and cannot be utilized for large-scale production for high technological applications.

3.2 LPE

As discussed in the previous section, ME of 2D layered materials suffers from a low production rate that is not technologically scalable in its current form. As an alternative method, LPE is a reliable way to produce single and few layers 2D sheets at bulk scale. LPE can be broadly classified into the following basic categories: (i) oxidation followed by subsequent dispersion into suitable solvents, (ii) ion intercalation, (iii) ion exchange and (iv) ultrasonic exfoliation [103].

Among them, (i–iii) are chemical exfoliation methods which can afford high-yield production of 2D material nanosheets. However, the produced nanomaterials usually has poor dispersion ability. Another prevalent method is ultrasonic exfoliation, which is a purely physical method. This method is to conduct ultrasonic treatment on the material under the action of dispersant, separate the material sheet layer, and obtain the solution of single or few layers after repeated ultrasonic treatment and centrifuge. Figure 5 is an experimental flowchart of the exfoliation process.

Figure 5:

LPE method. (a) Starting material, (b) chemical wet dispersion, (c) ultrasonication and (d) final dispersion after the ultracentrifugation process. Reproduced with permission [104].

3.3 CVD

Generally, 2D materials could be prepared via ME, LPE and CVD. However, few layer materials obtained with the LPE or ME methods usually suffer from uncontrollable size and random thickness [105], [106], which are detrimental for the performance of a SA. As for bottom-up methods, CVD is an important and scalable method to synthesize large-scale 2D materials. The first report on CVD growth of uniform, large area graphene on a metal surface was in 2009. They grew centimeter-sized graphene films on copper substrates by CVD using methane [107]. W. Liu et al. prepared large area and high lattice quality few-layer WSe₂ by CVD and applied it in mode-locked all-fiber laser, as shown in Figure 6 [108].

Figure 6:

Schematic representation of the preparation of WSe₂-based SA. (a) The transfer process of WSe₂ films. (b) Illustration of WSe₂ films on the end face of the optical fiber ferrule. (c) Illustration of the inter-action between light and few-layer WSe₂. Reproduced with permission [108].

Few-layer/multilayer materials can be easily prepared by the CVD method. As for the SAs, the modulation depth can be increased by controlling layer numbers. However, the preparation process is relatively complex and cost is high (e. g., the material films must be carefully transferred onto target substrates, and transfer residues are difficult to remove completely) [108], [109], [110], [111].

4 Fiber integration with 2D materials

To fabricate SAs for all-fiber mode-locked ultrafast fiber lasers, many designs have been developed in order to achieve sufficient interaction between 2D materials and intracavity laser light. Generally, these incorporation designs are different for solid-state lasers and fiber lasers. For solid-state lasers, 2D materials are usually plated on high-reflection mirrors to achieve coupling with the beam in free space. For fiber lasers, the coupling should consider the unique fiber property and many special designs have been developed. Figure 7 shows some popular fiber coupling schemes.

Figure 7:

SA incorporation methods: (a) sandwiching SA between two connectors, (b) depositing SAs on tapered fiber, (c) coating SAs on side-polished fiber, and (d) filling SA into hollow photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). (a) [131], (b) [128], (c) [129], (d) [132].

In 2007, Yamashita’s group first proposed and demonstrates a simple method of sandwich structure, which deposited carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto the core area of the optical fiber end [112]. The most commonly used is the sandwich structure as shown in Figure 6(a). The prepared 2D materials are embedded in a polymer film, which can be organic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [113], [114], [115], [116], [117], [118], polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) [119], [120], [121], [122], [123], PDMS [124] and so on. Because the core of a single-mode fiber is usually very small, it is necessary to cut the prepared polymer film into some small individual films and sandwich it between two fiber ferrules for transmission coupling. The main advantage of the sandwiched structure is the strong interaction between the SA and laser signal because of the direct insertion of the SA into the laser cavity, leading to good mode-locking performance [94]. Besides, it has low cost, strong flexibility and strong controllability, which is more conducive to the preparation of SAs. However, the scattering of nanomaterials leads to additional thermal dissipation [108], [125].

To scale the damage threshold of fiber SAs, another common method is to deposit SA materials on a side polished fiber (SPF, also called D-shaped fiber) or tapered fiber to obtain mode-locked lasers. In 2017, Yamashita’s group presented fiber integration with CNTs based on SPF and tapered fiber structure for the first time [126], [127]. In this case, the evanescent field of the light beam in the fiber interacts with 2D materials on the side, which reduces the light intensity in the materials. As shown in Figure 7(b), Li et al. show a graphene-clad microfiber modulator, which was assembled by covering a mechanically exfoliated graphene film on the surface of a microfiber [128]. They fabricated electrically controllable in-line graphene devices by integrating graphene-based field effect transistors on a SPF with ionic liquid as electric gating medium (Figure 7(c) [129], [130]).This method allows a very long interaction length and therefore is preferred in many experiments investigating optical nonlinearity.

For an alternative approach, Z. B. Liu first reported a fiber laser that was passively mode-locked by filling graphene oxide (GO) solution into the photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as a SA [133]. As shown in Figure 7(d) [132], the prepared material solution can be filled into the PCF with high-pressure injection method. Then, the solution-filled PCF was oven dried in order to remove the solvent and splice with the single-mode fiber [134]. Although PCF-based SA has advantages of stronger interaction effect, longer interaction length and larger nonlinear effect [135], this type of SA device also has some problems such as larger insertion loss, distortion of the guiding mode in the PCF region and so on [136].

5 2D materials as SAs

The Mode-locked fiber lasers are gathering increasing attention from fundamental research to practical applications. The nonlinear saturable absorption properties of low dimension materials play an important part in mode-locked laser mechanism and thus SAs have been utilized to support ultrafast mode-locked operation in the laser cavity. For the mode-locked laser output, the main components of fiber resonant cavity include the pumping source, wavelength division multiplexer (WDM), gain medium (rare earth doped fibers), single mode fiber (SMF), polarization independent/dependent optical isolator (PI-ISO/PD-ISO), polarization controller (PC) and optical coupler (OC). Meanwhile, some important parameters, such as operating wavelength, 3-dB bandwidth, pulse width, repetition rate and single pulse energy, characterize the performance of mode-locked laser. In recent years, a variety of mode-locked fiber lasers working at 1 μm (ytterbium-doped, Yb-doped), 1.5 μm (erbium-doped, Er-doped), 2 μm (thulium-doped, Tm-doped) and ∼3 μm (Er-doped ZBLAN) based on novel 2D materials have been widely reported. In the following sections, four typical lasers in different operating wavelengths are summarized and discussed.

5.1 1 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

Mode-locked fiber lasers working at 1 μm have good application prospects in industrial processing, medical and national defense fields, due to its high efficiency. In general, Yb-doped fibers (YDF) are used as the gain medium in the 1 μm region. Compared with Er-doped fibers (EDF), YDF have a wider gain spectrum, lower quantum loss and higher pumping efficiency, which are conducive to the generation and amplification of high-power lasers. It is universally known that the generation of all-normal dissipative solitons (DS) with bell-shape spectra and large chirp is the result of the balance of gain, loss, spectral filtering, nonlinear effects and dispersion in the laser cavity. In 2012, Li et al. demonstrated a self-started mode-locked YDF laser with GO at different cavity length (Figure 8a–c) [137]. In 2014, Zhang et al. first achieved a stable mode-locking laser with a pulse duration of 800 ps and a single pulse energy of 1.4 nJ based on MoS₂-nanoplantlets SA in the 1 μm region (Figure 8d–f) [138]. Subsequently, all-fiber Yb-doped laser based on various binary materials, such as WS₂, MoSe₂, WSe₂, Bi₂S₃, Bi₂Te₃, Sb₂Te₃ and so on, were gradually reported. In addition, some ternary and even multiple materials were discovered for their good nonlinear saturable absorption characteristics and therefore were used as SA to generate laser pulses. In 2019, Ma et al. realized the noise-like mode-locked pulses (NLP) operating at 1 μm wavelength by using few-layer ReS_1.02Se_0.98 nanoflakes as SA (Figure 8g–i) [139]. Here, many typical low dimension materials such as graphene, TMD, TIs and so on, were applied for the ultrashort pulse generation in the 1 μm region and have been presented in Table 1. These corresponding data are also shown in Figure 8, where the vertical axis represents the pulse width and the horizontal axis represents the repetition rate. In Figure 9, the shapes and colors of the marks represent different materials.

Figure 8:

Typical mode-locked fiber lasers working in the 1 μm region. (a) The schematic diagram of the mode-locked YDF laser based on graphene oxide, (b) the optical spectrum with 94 m long cavity and (c) the pulse duration with the different cavity length. (d) Schematic of the YDF laser mode-locked by the MoS₂, (e) the optical spectrum and (f) the oscilloscope tracing. (g) Diagram of the mode-locked fiber setup based on ReS_1.02Se_0.98, (h) optical spectrum and (i) output pulse train (inset: magnified autocorrelation curve of the NLPs). (a–c) [137], (d–f) [138], (g–i) [139].

Table 1:

Performance summary of mode-locked fiber lasers operating at 1 μm by using various 2D materials as SAs.

SA	Repetition rate(MHz)	Output power (mW)	Pulse energy (nJ)	Pulse duration (ps)	3 dB bandwidth (nm)	Center wavelength (nm)	Refs.
Graphene	10.05 (CP)9.55	12.5	1.2	189	1.93	1059.7	[140]
	10.05 (CP)9.55	12.5	0.22	2.73	0.75	1057.2	[140]
	1.078	147.5	159.4	0.9 ns	0.19	1064.9	[141]
	1.072	0.19	0.177	2.3 ns	0.477	1064.1	[142]
	14.2	2.1	0.148	147.9	1.95	1059.7	[143]
	0.415	–	–	5.5 ns	0.35	1063.7	[144]
	1.78	3.05	1.713	2.41 ns	4.	1061.8	[145]
	1.78	3.05	1.713	2.2 ns	2.16	1068.8	[145]
	16.29	2.39	0.18	6.5 ns	0.18	1035.1	[146]
	1.04	170	163	680	0.12	1074.7	[147]
	1.05	20	19	520	3	1035	[148]
	10.05	12.5	1.2	202	–	1060	[149]
	0.9	0.37	0.41	560	1.29	1069.8	[150]
	1.062	9.3	8.68	30.9 ns	1.177	1063.3	[151]
BP	16.77	18.9	1.13	51	5.9	1064.4	[152]
	6.78	1.62	0.24	3380	0.17	1063.9	[153]
	18.47	–	–	–	–	1063.8	[154]
	0.38	–	–	39.4 ns	0.1	1067	[155]
Au-nanotube	18.69 (CP)17.94	4.1	–	460	1.2	1068.2	[156]
Au-nanotube	18.69 (CP)17.94	0.94	0.053	0.84	1.5	1063.9	[156]
SWCNT	21.5	1.5	0.7	317	0.17	1060.2	[157]
	21.2	8.68	0.41 (CP)0.047	4.14	32.7	1025.5	[158]
	21.2	8.68	0.41 (CP)0.047	0.175	20.2	1031.5	[158]
	27.2	3.47	0.128	2.43	1.6	1030	[159]
	34	3.5	0.103	8.7/(CP)118 fs	17.6	1037	[160]
	23.4	–	–	0.18	7.5	1032.5	[161]
	21.5	1.5	0.07	317	0.17	1061	[162]
	23.83	92.3	3.87	421.9	0.49	1051.87	[163]
	23	15	0.65	194	2.7	1054.16	[164]
	9.44	1.1	0.116	300	1.82	1036.89	[165]
	41.6	2.1	1.2	380	1.4	1035	[166]
	130	2	0.015	16	0.15	1058.65	[167]
	19.46	2	0.103	276	0.57	1063.3	[168]
	0.199	40.3	201.5	102 ns	0.17	1080.16	[169]
	5.59	336	60.1	0.0938	8.6	1083.8	[170]
	50	155	3	0.235	–	1032	[171]
Bismuthene	21.74	8.36	0.385	30.25	2.72	1034.4	[172]
MoS₂	15.43	1.5	0.097	1550	0.9	1037.5	[173]
	2.025	0.35	0.17	336.5	2.1	1029.3	[174]
	26.5	32	1.21	475	2.6	1037	[70]
	16.51	16.7	1.01	13.7	4.8	979	[70]
WS₂	5.57	76	13.6	630	0.77	1063.6	[175]
	23.26	30	1.29	713	0.29	1052.45	[121]
	–	–	2.82	2400	1	1034.2	[176]
SnS₂	39.33	2.23	0.057	656	8.63	1062.66	[177]
	3.76	0.123	0.033	282	1.2	1031	[178]
	18	1.023	0.057	1050	0.064	1027.71	[179]
Bi₂S₃	3.94	10	2.538	782	0.2	1038	[180]
Bi₂Se₃	44.6	33.7	0.756	46	2.	1031.7	[181]
Bi₂Se₃	1.11	1.2	1.08	960	1.11	1064.47	[135]
Bi₂Se₃	11.38	9.46	0.83	210	1.14	1037.02	[182]
	16	17.1	1.88	380	–	1038.5	[183]
	17.7	1.88	0.1	507	1.4	1039	[183]
	0.527	32.6	61.8	398 ns	–	–	[184]
Bi₂Te₃	1.44	0.86	0.599	230	3.69	1057.82	[185]
	19.64	55	2.8	317	1.245	1052.5	[186]
	6.16	12.4	2	5470	2.4	1063.4	[187]
Graphene- Bi₂Te₃	3.77	2.53	–	189.94	3.5	1058.9	[188]
Graphene- Bi₂Te₃	3.7	–	–	144.3	4.3	1049.1	[189]
Sb₂Te₃	19.38	15.7	0.81	–	2.28	1065.3	[190]
	19.28	4	0.21	5.9	8.87	1047.1	[191]
	19.2	0.57	0.03	5.3	8.82	1036.7	[191]
	17.07	0.54	0.032	0.38	4.25	1039.4	[192]
PtSe₂	4.08	12.19	2.31	470	2	1064.47	[193]
PtSe₂	4.45	1.08	0.243	1900	4.7	1067.5	[194]
InSe	1.76	16.3	9.3	1370	1.3	–	[195]
GaTe QD	11.73	9	0.781	752	–	1030.72	[196]
NbSe₂ QD	12.3	10.5	0.854	380	0.155	1033	[197]
Mo₂C	3.22	–	–	418	2.62	1061.8	[198]
PbO QD	4.37	24.13	5.52	303	2	1062.12	[199]
NiPS₃	8.2	1.66	0.21	126.5	4.86	1066.2	[200]
CH₃NH₃PbI₃	4.08	15.71	3.85	913	5.11	1064	[41]
CH₃NH₃SnI₃	4.03	28.19	6.99	1770	8.09	1064	[201]
Ti₃C₂T_x	18.96	9	0.47	480	4.4	1065.89	[44]
Ti₂CT_x	11.2	–	–	164.4	3.4	1051.08	[202]

CP: after compression.

Figure 9:

Pulse width versus repetition rate of 2D materials based mode-locked Er-fiber lasers.

In general, YDF lasers were in the all-normal dispersion region where DS were generated. The realization of negative dispersion in YDF lasers cavity was extremely challenging, because there were few anomalous group velocity dispersion (GVD) fibers at 1 μm to compensate for the normal dispersion in the gain fibers and SMF. However, there were some reports that have implemented femtosecond pulses by using dispersion management techniques with grating pairs, PCF, etc. For instance, Z. Zhang et al. directly obtainedan output pulse of 8.7 ps at the exit of the CNT-based YDF cavity. In order to obtain a shorter pulse, a section of 2.1 m-long solid-core PCF was added into the cavity for dispersion management, which allows generation of 118 fs pulse (Ref. [160] in Table 1). Also, Hou et al. designed a dispersion managed YDF laser with a grating pair as compressor, which obtained the shortest pulse width of 175 fs (Ref. [158] in Table 1). To generate ultrashort pulses and large energy output in the cavity is also a common goal pursued by researchers, so Xile Han, et al. demonstrated a mode-locked Yb-doped linear-cavity fiber laser with a total length of 194.54 m, in which the net dispersion in the cavity are 3.45 ps². Although the repetition rate in the cavity is relatively low, only 527 kHz, but a higher single pulse energy of 61.8 nJ is obtained (Ref. [184] in Table 1). Furthermore, in 2013, Shasha Li, et al. achieved the output of femtosecond pulses of 93.8 fs with high single pulse energy of 60.1 nJ by using double-clad Yb-doped gain fiber as the gain medium(Ref. [170] in Table 1).

From Table1 and Figure 9, SWCNT seem to presents the best performance in the generation of shorter pulse output. The output pulse width of YDF lasers based on graphene is relatively wide due to the zero bandgap structure and low modulation depth of the material. Some types of quantum dot (QD) materials such as GaTe QD, NbSe₂ QD, PbO QD also are used as SA for mode-locking operation in YDF lasers. Although Sb₂Te₃ obtains the largest bandwidth of 8.87 nm, the mode-locked duration of fiber laser is only 5.9 ps. YDF lasers based on 2D materials basically have a relatively wide output pulse width because it is located in the normal dispersion region and it is not easy to carry out dispersion management due to the lack of anomalous dispersion fibers. However, the DS it generates cause the laser to output high single pulses energy. In addition, perovskites exhibit higher pulse energy than other 2D materials. Therefore, the dispersion management is a critical factor to the output performance in mode-locked fiber lasers.

5.2 1.5 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

EDF has strong gain at 1.5 μm, and its 40 nm wide spectral profile is the atmospheric window for low loss optical communication. Erbium-doped mode-locked fiber lasers also own high power density, high coupling efficiency, and compact structure. In 2014, Jeong et al. demonstrated a dissipative soliton fiber laser with high pulse energy based on a SWCNT-SA. The laser stably delivered linearly chirped pulses with a pulse duration of 12.7 ps, and exhibited a spectral bandwidth of 12.1 nm at the central wavelength of 1563 nm. Average power of the laser output was measured as 335 mW (Figure 10(a–c)) [203]. In 2017, Yin et al. studied the saturable absorption of CVD grown WSe₂ films with large-scale and high quality. They used WSe₂ films as a broadband SA for passively mode-locked fiber lasers with the pulse durations of 477 fs at 1.5 μm (Figure 10(d–f)) [204]. In 2018, Liu et al. investigated MoS₂-Sb₂Te₃-MoS₂ heterostructure materials with uniformity by employing the magnetron sputtering technique at 1.5 μm mode-locked fiber laser, which had a large modulation depth and high reliability (Figure 10(g–i)) [205]. Recently, the change in repetition frequency and pulse width of low-dimensional material mode-locked fiber lasers are demomstrated, which is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 10:

Typical mode-locked fiber lasers working in the 1.5 μm region. (a) configuration of the constructed all-fiber ring laser using an SWCNT-SA, (b) optical spectrum and (c) auto-correlation trace (inset: auto-correlation trace after compression). (d) Schematic illustration of the typical ring cavity of the mode-locked fiber laser based on the microfiber WSe₂ SA, (e) output optical spectrum with solitonic sidebands and (f) auto-correlation trace of mode-locked pulse with a sech² fitting curve. (g) Configuration of the mode-locked EDF laser based on MoS₂-Sb₂Te₃-MoS₂ heterostructure SA mirror, (h) optical spectrum and (i) pulse duration. (a–c) [203], (d–f) [204], (g–i) [205].

Figure 11:

Pulse width versus repetition rate of 2D materials based mode-locked Er-fiber lasers.

Unlike YDF lasers, both DS and conventional solitons (CS) can be generated by dispersion management in EDF lasers. Among them, DS will obtain higher single pulse energy, while CS are easier to achieve shorter pulses and slight chirp. Therefore Er-doped lasers can work in both normal and anomalous dispersion regions. For example, Lei Gao, et al. proposed two kinds of (DS and CS) EDF mode-locked laser based on Bi₂Se₃ nanosheets. The CS laser system had a total length of 10.1 m with the net anomalous dispersion of −0.232ps², which generated 908 fs pulse output. While DS laser obtained a pulse width of 7.564 ps, whose the total length of 29.1 m and the net normal dispersion of 0.104 ps² (Ref. [229] in Table 2). In addition, there are some reported on the mode-locked due to combined action of a 2D SA and nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE). In 2015, Liu et al. proposed a hybrid mode-locked EDF laser incorporated with Sb₂Te₃, in which NPE was utilized to achieve ultra-short pulses and high average power output. By this means, the laser system generated ultrashort pulses with the pulse width of 70 fs and average power of 63 mW [262]. Also, Bogusławski et al. demonstrated a hybrid mode-locked fiber laser in the same year, which was observed sub-200 fs pulse output [263].

Table 2:

Performance summary of mode-locked fiber lasers operating at 1.5 μm by using various 2D materials as SAs.

SA	Repetition rate(MHz)	Output power (mW)	Pulse energy (nJ)	Pulse duration (ps)	3dB bandwidth (nm)	Center wavelength (nm)	Ref.
SWCNT	10.61	11.21	1.057	22.73	0.3	1547.5	[206]
	62.2	0.445	0.007	0.763	4.3	1560.1	[207]
	(DW)10.47	1.88	0.18	0.91	2.7	1533.5	[208]
	10.89	3.19	0.29	0.85	3.9	1555.1	[208]
	18.3	0.316	0.017 pJ	0.57	5	1564.5	[209]
	9.8	335	34	12.7	12.1	1563	[210]
	33	3.2	0.097 pJ	0.639	3.9	1559	[211]
	5.7	19.4	3.4	0.18	20.2	1559.6	[212]
	50.4	0.2	0.004	0.9	3	1558	[213]
	42.2	12.5	0.296	0.35	36	1560	[214]
	11.25	8.58	0.763	0.602	4.83	1560	[215]
	22.2	4	0.18	0.51	4.33	1560	[216]
	38.117	11.2	0.3	0.093	42	1560	[217]
BP	5.96	–	–	0.946	2.925	1571.45	[97]
	60.5	–	–	0.280	9.35	1569.24	[218]
	15.22	–	–	1.67	2.4	1567.5	[219]
	5.62	2.23	0.45	1.2	2.2	1560.3	[220]
	30.3	–	–	0.5378	5.33	1567.3	[221]
	23.9	–	–	0.102	40	1555	[222]
	(H)45.9	6.43	0.14	0.100	40	1558	[223]
	5.86	0.3	0.051	0.8	3.25	1561.1	[224]
	23.9	1.7	0.071	0.102	40	1555	[225]
	8.77	–	–	0.67	3.8	1559.5	[43]
Bi₂Se₃	1.21	–	–	1.57	1.79	1564.6	[226]
	12.5	1.8	0.144	0.66	4.3	1557.5	[227]
	5.1 (HML)388 (HML)239	–	–	3.01 3.42 2.02	0.9	1558.3 1557.4 1559.4	[228]
	(CS)20.27 (DS)7.04	5.5 75	0.27	0.908 7.564	7.91 26	1554.56 1559	[205]
	46.4	–	–	0.359	7.76	1597	[229]
	19.352	2	0.0185	1.08	2.8	1530	[230]
	35.45	0.86	0.024	0.36	7.9	–	[231]
	1.71	82.6	48.3	7.78 ns	0.342	1557.908	[153]
Bi₂Te₃	1.7	32.9	19.3	2.7 ns	5.6	1560	[232]
	4.88	5	1.02	1.22	0.95	1558.5	[233]
	15.11	0.8	0.0529	0.6	4.63	1547	[234]
	14.07	–	–	–	4.5	1555.9	[235]
	8.635	–	–	1.08 1.1	2.9 3.2	1557	[236]
	1.704	40.37	23.9	3.22 ns	1.696	1558.459	[237]
	18.55	0.5	0.027	0.286	9.15	1560.8	[238]
CoSb3	14.48	–	–	0.833	3.44	1557.9	[239]
MoS₂	5.924	3.5	0.59	1.36	2.7	1570.1	[240]
			–	0.33	7.9	1570	[241]
	11.93	5.85	0.49	0.83	3.5	1571.8	[242]
	29.5	4.13	0.14	0.79	9.5	1574.6	[243]
	11.95	1	–	0.266	10	1561	[244]
	26.02 (CP)33.48	–	–	4.98 0.637	23.2 12.38	1568 1568	[245]
MoS₂	6.77	0.065	0.01	–	2.47	1556.86	[246]
	1.927	–	–	0.84	3	–	[247]
	8.968	–	–	1.21	2.1	1530.4	[248]
	14.53	1	0.069	0.2	20.5	1560	[249]
	12.09	–	–	0.71	4	1569.5	[250]
	463	5.9	–	0.935	6.1	1556.3	[251]
	15.67	9.6	0.61	0.581	4.8	1557.24	[129]
	8.288	–	–	1.28	2.6	1568.9	[252]
MoS₂-WS₂	74.6	19.8	0.27	0.154	24.4	1560	[253]
MoS₂-Sb₂Te₃-MoS₂	36.4	20	0.55	0.286	28	1554	[254]
MoTe₂	–	23.4	–	0.1119	24.9	1561	[255]
	5		–	2.57	1.5	1532.5	[256]
	26.601	57	2.14	0.229	11.76	1559.57	[257]
ReSe₂	14.97	–	–	0.862	3.4	1561.2	[258]
ReS₂	1.78			3.8	8.2	1563.3	[259]
TiS₂	22.7		0.025	0.812	4.75	1563.3	[260]
Sb₂Te₃	(H)95.4	63	0.66	0.07	63	1542	[261]
	(H)33	9	0.27	0.2	13.3	1568.8	[262]
	22.13	0.9	0.0396	0.449	6	1556	[263]
	25.38	–	0.21	0.167	34	1558	[264]
	31	2	0.06	1.6/(CP)0.197	32.5	−1550	[265]
	4.75	0.5	–	2.02	–	1556	[266]
	22.32	–	–	0.128	30	1565	[267]
	4.75	0.5	0.105	1.8	1.8	1558.6	[268]
	3.75 (HML)304	0.5	133	1.9	1.58	1558	[269]
	3.75 (HML)304	4.5	0.014	2.2	1.58	1558.2	[269]
WS₂	31.11	–	–	0.332	8.23	1565	[270]
	25.25	–	–	0.595	5.2	1572	[271]
	–	–	–	1.17	4.16	1563	[272]
	21.07/31.11	0.32/0.43	–	0.457/0.332	5.6/8.23	1566/1565	[273]
	8.05	1.8	0.22	21.1	14.5	1565.5	[274]
	19.58	0.625	–	0.675	–	1558.5	[275]
	19.57	2.64	0.134	0.524	5.19	1563.8	[276]
WSe₂	14.02	–	–	0.477	6.06	1556.42	[203]
WTe₂	13.98	–	–	0.77	4.14	1556.2	[277]
Cu₂S	8.06	4.4	0.545	1.04	3.1	1530.4	[278]
GaSe	8.849	29.1	18.3	4.3	0.83	1555	[279]
GeP	14.82	6.65	0.449	0.722	4.66	1558.29	[280]
rGO	16.79	–	–	1.17	4.04	1544.02	[281]
MgO	3.5	7.6	2.17	5.6	0.24	1569.1	[282]
MXenes	20.0	–	0.065	0.104	42.54	–	[283]
	8.24	–	–	0.946	3.1	1567.3	[284]
	15.4	0.05	–	0.66	5	1557	[32]
	8.25	–	–	5.3	3.4	1565.4	[285]
PtSe₂	23.3	–	0.53	1.02	6	1563	[197]
ReS_2(1-x)Se_2x	2.95	0.812	0.275	0.888	4.85	1561.15	[286]
SnS₂	29.3	1.2	0.041	0.623	6.09	1562.01	[287]
SnSe	15.5	0.1	–	0.61	5.27	1559	[288]

HML: harmonic mode locking; CP: after compression; DW: dual-wavelength; H: hybrid mode locking; CS: conventional solitons; DS: dissipative solitons.

Compared with the YDF mode-locked lasers, the EDF mode-locked lasers have obvious advantages in generating shorter pulse lasers and more potential applications such as optical communications system, and the frequency comb system. In addition, the smallest transmission loss also exists in the 1.5 μm wavelength in the single mode fiber. In Table 2, the majority of investigations focused on the SWCNT, BP, TIs, and TMD. Few reports revolved in the MXenes and ternary TMD SA, in which TMD SA presents good pulse duration and high repetition rate, as shown in Figure 11. Therefore, TMD is expected to produce better output characteristics in terms of ultrashort pulses and high repetition rates. In addition, the pulse width obtained by the EDF laser based on TIs was less than 5 ps, which also shows an excellent saturable absorption characteristic in the 1.5 μm wavelength. Although the single pulse energy generated by the EDF laser based on 2D materials is relatively small, TIs seem to be more dominant after comparison.

5.3 2 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

Thulium/holmium-doped fiber lasers with operating wavelength of around 2 μm, which is near the absorption peak of water molecules, have attracted much attention for applications in the field of laser surgery, remote sense, laser radar and optoelectronic countermeasures, due to the advantages of high efficiency, easily pump and cavity stability. In recent years, mode-locked Tm-doped fiber lasers (TDF) based on new-type low-dimension materials have been investigated widely. In 2018, Wang et al. reported Tm-doped mode-locked laser based on MoTe₂ SA fabricated by the magnetron sputtering deposition method for the first time. The pulse duration and single pulse energy were 1.3 ps and 13.8 nJ, respectively (Figure 12a–c) [289]. In 2019, Pawliszewska M et al. firstly achieved Ho-doped fiber (HDF) laser operating in anomalous and normal dispersion regime with metallic CNT film fabricated by vacuum filtration technique (Figure 12d–f) [290]. Some important parameters generated by low dimension materials-based Tm/Ho-doped fiber lasers have been listed in Table 3. Similarly, these corresponding data are also shown in Figure 13.

Figure 12:

Tm-doped mode-locked fiber laser. (a) Schematic of the passively mode-locked TDF laser based on MoTe₂ SA, (b) optical spectrum with the bandwidth of 3.2 nm and (c) autocorrelation trace with a pulse duration of 1.3 ps with sech² fit (The insert shows the autocorrelation trace with a large range of 50 ps). (d) Setup of the HDF laser based on CNT, (e) performance of the laser operating in the solitonic regime: optical spectrum and pulse autocorrelation and (f) stretched pulse regime: optical spectrum and autocorrelation trace. (a–c) [289], (d–f) [290].

Table 3:

Performance summary of mode-locked fiber lasers operating at 2 μm by using various 2D materials as SAs.

SA	Repetition rate (MHz)	Output power (mW)	Pulse energy (nJ)	Pulse duration (ps)	3 dB bandwidth (nm)	Center wavelength (nm)	Ref.
BP	19.2	8.45		1.58	3.9	1898	[291]
	31.8	11	0.345	1.3	4.2	2090	[292]
	36.8	1.5	0.0407	0.739	5.8	1910	[293]
CNT	37	3.4		1.32	5	1932	[294]
	21.05	2.3	0.109	0.973	4.2	1950	[295]
	45		0.5	0.75	6	1885	[296]
	54.52	20.5	0.376	0.683	6.65	2079	[290]
	45	18	0.4	0.45	15.8	1870	[297]
Graphene	6.46	2	0.4	3.6	2.1	1940	[298]
	16.93	1.41	0.081	2.1	2.2	1953.3	[299]
	20.5	1.3		1.2	4	1884	[300]
	41	1.5		0.603	6.6	1876	[301]
	58.87	13	0.22	0.205	27.5	1945	[302]
GO	33.6		4.3	0.59	6.9	1950	[303]
NiO	8.1	7.34		61.27 ns	0.14	1928.81	[304]
Bi₂Te₃	21.5	∼2.3		1.26	3.6	1909.5	[305]
Bi₂Te₃	27.9	∼1		0.795	5.64	1935	[96]
CoSb₃	16.93			0.838	4.62	1912.9	[306]
MoS₂	9.67	150	15.5	843	17.3	1905	[307]
MoSe₂	18.21	4.3		0.92	4.62	1912	[308]
MoTe₂	15.37	212	13.8	1.3	3.2	1934.85	[257]
WS₂	34.8	0.6	0.0172	1.3	5.6	1941	[309]
WSe₂	11.36	32.5	2.86	1.18	3.29	1886.2	[203]
WTe₂	18.72	39.9	2.13	1.25	3.13	1915.5	[109]
Ti₃C₂T_x	13.45	5.8	0.431	2.11	1.86	1862	[310]
ReS_1.02Se_0.98	23.17	313	13.6	1.43	17	1924	[311]

Figure 13:

Pulse width versus repetition rate of 2D materials based mode-locked Tm/Ho-fiber lasers (marks with different shapes and colors represent different materials).

Due to quality beam and small thermal damage, TDF laser based on 2D materials can achieve rapid hemostasis without causing damage to the human body, and therefore is widely used in surgical treatment. There are only a few studies on TDF lasers based on 2D materials, but they all show outstanding performances. We found the ternary TMD SA shows the good performance such as large pulse energy and wide operating wavelength. For example, ReS_1.02Se_0.9 based mode-locked fiber lasers can work at 1.5 and 2 μm wavelength, as shown in Table 3. Figure 12 shows six types of materials that all are able to realize mode locking in 2 μm region. The best one is graphene SA, which can generate the shortest pulses of 205 fs and the highest repetition rate of 58.87 MHz in the Tm/Ho-doped fiber laser. TMDs and TIs SA also present good output characteristics in generating short pulse width. TIs show higher single pulse energy, which is very important for practical applications.

5.4 2∼3 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

Mid-infrared mode-locked lasers have important applications in many fields such as food, medicine, military and molecular fingerprints. The past decade has seen the rapid development of mid-infrared fiber lasers which is driven by the great demand in a wide range of applications including spectroscopy, medical diagnosis, etc. [312], [313]. In particular, Er: ZBLAN (ZrF₄-BaF₂-LaF₃-AlF₃-NaF) fiber lasers at 3 μm have attracted wide attention owing to the advances of fluoride fiber fabrication. Mode-locking operation of an Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser in the 3 μm wavelength region was first demonstrated by Frerichs and Unrau using the flying mirror technique and an InAs SA [314]. In 2015, Z. Qin et al. reported a passively mode-locked Er:ZBLAN fiber laser based on the mechanically exfoliated BP plated onto the gold-coated mirror, which delivers a maximum average output power of 613 mW, a repetition rate of 24 MHz and a pulse duration of 42 ps, respectively [315]. A mid-infrared mode-locked fluoride fiber laser with Bi₂Te₃ nanosheets as the SA is presented reference [316]. More data for 3 μm mode-locked fiber lasers are listed in Table 4.

Table 4:

Performance summary of mode-locked fiber lasers operating at ∼3 μm by using various 2D materials as SAs.

SA	Repetition rate (MHz)	Output power (mW)	Pulse energy (nJ)	Pulse duration (ps)	3 dB bandwidth (nm)	Center wavelength (nm)	Ref.
BP	27.4	6.2		–	4.9	2771.1	[317]
	28.91	40		–	4.7	3489	[318]
	24.27	613		42	2.8	2783	[315]
	13.98	87.8	6.28	8.6	4.35	2866.7	[319]
Graphene	25.4	18	0.7	42	0.21	2784.5	[320]
Bi₂Te₃	10.4	90	8.6	6	10	2830	[316]

Table 4 shows that fewer materials can be used to trigger the mode-locking operation in the Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser. For the novel 2D materials-based SA, TIs and BP were commonly used and suitable for 3 μm mode-locked fiber lasers due to its ultra-narrow bandgaps. Although BP has excellent performance in the 3 μm wavelength region, the environmental stability of BP is still an obstacle to its photonics applications.

In the above four tables that summarize the applications of 2D materials in ultrafast photonics, the pulse width obtained after additional external compression or through hybrid mode locking has been listed. Generally, the larger dispersion in the cavity, the lower prepetition rate is.On the contrary, the cavity with a higher repetition rate can generate a higher pulse energy.

6 Summary and outlook

In summary, owing to their unique properties, a plenty of emerging 2D materials were explored as SA to realize mode-locked fiber lasers. In this review, we summarize different types of 2D material SAs, according to their operating wavelengths in mode-locked fiber lasers. i) At the 1 μm region, there are plenty of materials can be SAs in the YDF mode-locked lasers, such as graphene, BP, Au-nanotube, SWCNT, Bismuthene, MoS₂, WS₂, SnS₂, Bi₂S₃, Bi₂Se₃ etc. However, some emerging 2D materials are not as good as the mature SWCNT in the Yb-fiber pulses lasers. One can further explore its potential applications in the ultrafast photonics. ii) At the wavelength of 1.5 µm, one can easily fabricate fiber devices by managing the dispersion and the nonlinearity at low cost and with low loss in the fiber cavity. At this case, TMD SA presents better pulse duration and higher repetition rate. iii) At the 2 µm wavelength, the ternary TMD SA shows large pulse energy, wide operating bandwidth. In operation wavelength beyond 3 µm, the BP SA shows the best performance in the mode-locked Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser.

The outlook about the 2D materials SA in the fiber mode-locked laser field are listed as follows : i) Lucubrating on the applications of mature materials based SAs, such as CNT, graphene and BP, which are able to work at multiple wavelengths including 1, 1.5, 2 µm and even 3 µm in the fiber pulse lasers. ii) Exploring new compound alloy materials or the combination of traditional materials with the emerging materials in order to obtain wider bandwidth, higher damage threshold and lower insert loss. In addition, one can tailor the bandgap for specific wavelength through varying the number of layers of single atom materials and the elemental proportion. In addition, the multi-elemental materials with high damage threshold and wide operation bandwidth are worth investigating, such as ternary TMD family SA. The exploration of potential 2D materials for the commercial product in the mode locked lasers is also crucial issue for the future research. Although many kinds of materials can be used for the ultrafast fiber lasers, there are still not a commercial product like semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SAM). We believe the research on the multifunctional 2D material SAs for mode-locked fiber lasers will attract much attention in near future.

Corresponding author: Junli Wang, School of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071, PR China, E-mail: dispersion@126.com

Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 61675158

Funding source: Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Pulsed Laser Technology

Funding source: National Key R&D Program of China

Award Identifier / Grant number: 2018YFB1107200

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61675158), Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Pulsed Laser Technology, and the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFB1107200).

Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61675158), Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Pulsed Laser Technology, and the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFB1107200).
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Received: 2020-03-12

Accepted: 2020-05-01

Published Online: 2020-06-24

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.

Recent advances in mode-locked fiber lasers based on two-dimensional materials

Abstract

1 Introduction

2 Structures and properties of 2D materials

2.1 Graphene

2.2 TMD

2.3 BP

2.4 TIs

2.5 MXenes

3 Synthesis methods for 2D materials

3.1 ME

3.2 LPE

3.3 CVD

4 Fiber integration with 2D materials

5 2D materials as SAs

5.1 1 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

5.2 1.5 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

5.3 2 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

5.4 2∼3 μm wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers

6 Summary and outlook

Acknowledgments

References

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