Passively Q-switched and mode-locked erbium doped fiber laser based on N-doped graphene saturable absorber

Abstract

A passively Q-switched and mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on a nitrogen-doped graphene saturable absorber is demonstrated. The N-doped graphene based saturable absorber has a modulation depth of 37.88% and a saturation intensity of 0.016 73 MW cm−2. By integrating the N-doped graphene saturable absorber into the laser cavity, a stable Q-switched operation with a centre wavelength of 1561.1 nm is obtained with a pulse energy of up to 29.0 nJ. As the pump power increases, the Q-switching operation transits into a mode-locking operation. The mode-locking operation is achieved with a centre wavelength of 1560 nm, a pulse width of 0.98 ps, a repetition rate of 28.5 MHz and a signal to noise ratio of up to 40 dB in the RF spectrum.