Femtosecond Pulsed Fiber Laser by an Optical Device Based on NaOH-LPE Prepared WSe₂ Saturable Absorber

We report on all-optical devices prepared from WSe₂ combined with drawn tapered fibers as saturable absorbers to achieve ultrashort pulse output. The saturable absorber with a high damage threshold and high saturable absorption characteristics is prepared for application in erbium-doped fiber lasers by the liquid phase exfoliation method for WSe₂, and the all-optical device exhibited strong saturable absorption characteristics with a modulation depth of 15% and a saturation intensity of 100.58 W. The net dispersion of the erbium-doped fiber laser cavity is ~-0.1 ps², and a femtosecond pulse output with a bandwidth of 11.4 nm, a pulse width of 390 fs, and a single-pulse capability of 42 pJ is obtained. Results indicate that the proposed WSe₂ saturable absorbers are efficient, photonic devices to realize stable fiber lasers. The results demonstrate that the WSe₂ saturable absorber is an effective photonic device for realizing stable fiber lasers, which have a certain significance for the development of potential photonic devices.