Recent advances in Ti₃C₂T _x MXenes for photonic applications

In recent years, Ti₃C₂T _x MXenes have emerged as highly promising materials due to their unique physicochemical properties, including mechanical, electronic, magnetic, and optical characteristics, as well as their ease of synthesis. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the role of Ti₃C₂T _x MXenes in photonic technologies. MXenes demonstrate strong nonlinear optical absorption, enabling the generation of ultrafast laser pulses across a broad spectral range from the visible to the mid-infrared regions. Furthermore, their intrinsic metallic conductivity facilitates long-wavelength applications, particularly in Ti₃C₂T _x -based saturable absorber mirrors. The relationship between photovoltaic efficiency and the material's optical properties and bandgap energy is also discussed. Recent advances in MXene-based heterostructures suggest strong potential for scalable integration into photonic technologies, including nonlinear optical devices, transparent conductive electrodes, photovoltaics, and plasmonic systems, although challenges related to stability and interface control persist.