Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser using an yttria-stabilized zirconium oxide saturable absorber

We present a new type of saturable absorber (SA), to our knowledge, using yitteria-stabilized zirconium oxide (YSZO), which is combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to produce Q-switched pulses from an erbium-doped fiber laser. The YSZO-PVA film realized stable pulses working at 1532.2 nm within a pumping power of 90-150 mW. The pulse width and repetition rate were achieved at 4.72 µs and 68.96 kHz, respectively. The measured o/p power and the calculated pulse energy were gained at the maximum laser pumping of 5.46 mW and 79.17 nJ, respectively. This SA indicates that it is promising in generating ultrafast lasers where the YSZO nanomaterial has been applied in fiber lasers for the first time.