Passively Q-switched Er:Lu₂O₃ laser at 2.8  µm with TiC saturable absorber

Titanium carbide (TiC) nanosheets of two-dimensional multilayer structure were prepared by the liquid-phase exfoliation method. By using the TiC as a saturable absorber, a stable passively Q-switched Er:Lu₂O₃ laser at 2.85 µm was realized. Under an absorbed pump power of 7.32 W, the obtained maximum output power was 896 mW with a slope efficiency of 15.6%. The Q-switched pulse duration was measured to be 266.8 ns with repetition rates of 136.9 kHz, corresponding to a peak power of 24.6 W.