Nonlinear Optical Response of Reflective MXene Molybdenum Carbide Films as Saturable Absorbers

Molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) is a two-dimensional (2D) MXene material which makes it a promising photoelectric material. In this study, reflective type MXene Mo₂C thin films were coated on a silver mirror by a magnetron sputtering method and were subsequently used in a passively Q-switched solid-state pulsed laser generator at the central wavelengths of 1.06 and 1.34 μm, respectively. The fabricated thin films of reflective type MXene Mo₂C exhibited large modulation depth of 6.86% and 5.38% at the central wavelengths of 1064 and 1342 nm, respectively. By inserting the Mo₂C saturable absorbers (SAs) into V-shaped Nd:YAG laser, short pulses were generated having a pulse duration, pulse energy, and average output power of 254 ns, 2.96 μJ, and 275 mW, respectively, at a wavelength of 1.06 μm. Similarly, shorter laser pulses were obtained in Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1.34 μm. Our results illustrated potential of the 2D MXene Mo₂C films for laser applications.