A Review on Rhenium Disulfide: Synthesis Approaches, Optical Properties, and Applications in Pulsed Lasers

Rhenium Disulfide (ReS₂) has evolved as a novel 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) material which has promising applications in optoelectronics and photonics because of its distinctive anisotropic optical properties. Saturable absorption property of ReS₂ has been utilized to fabricate saturable absorber (SA) devices to generate short pulses in lasers systems. The results were outstanding, including high-repetition-rate pulses, large modulation depth, multi-wavelength pulses, broadband operation and low saturation intensity. In this review, we emphasize on formulating SAs based on ReS₂ to produce pulsed lasers in the visible, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelength regions with pulse durations down to femtosecond using mode-locking or Q-switching technique. We outline ReS₂ synthesis techniques and integration platforms concerning solid-state and fiber-type lasers. We discuss the laser performance based on SAs attributes. Lastly, we draw conclusions and discuss challenges and future directions that will help to advance the domain of ultrafast photonic technology.