MXene/Graphene Oxide Heterojunction as a Saturable Absorber for Passively Q-Switched Solid-State Pulse Lasers

Owing to their unique characteristics, two-dimensional (2-D) materials and their complexes have become very attractive in photoelectric applications. Two-dimensional heterojunctions, as novel 2-D complex materials, have drawn much attention in recent years. Herein, we propose a 2-D heterojunction co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yunjia Wang, Jianwen Wang, Qiao Wen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/3/720
Description
Summary:Owing to their unique characteristics, two-dimensional (2-D) materials and their complexes have become very attractive in photoelectric applications. Two-dimensional heterojunctions, as novel 2-D complex materials, have drawn much attention in recent years. Herein, we propose a 2-D heterojunction composed of MXene (Ti<sub>2</sub>CT<i><sub>x</sub></i>) materials and graphene oxide (GO), and apply it to an Nd:YAG solid-state laser as a saturable absorber (SA) for passive Q-switching. Our results suggest that a nano-heterojunction between MXene and GO was achieved based on morphological characterization, and the advantages of a broadband response, higher stability in GO, and strong interaction with light waves in MXene could be combined. In the passively Q-switched laser study, the single-pulse energy was measured to be approximately 0.79 µJ when the pump power was 3.72 W, and the corresponding peak power was approximately 7.25 W. In addition, the generation of a stable ultrashort pulse down to 109 ns was demonstrated, which is the narrowest pulse among Q-switched solid-state lasers using a 2-D heterojunction SA. Our work indicates that the MXene–GO nano-heterojunction could operate as a promising SA for ultrafast systems with ultrahigh pulse energy and ultranarrow pulse duration. We believe that this work opens up a new approach to designing 2-D heterojunctions and provides insight into the formation of new 2-D materials with desirable photonic properties.
ISSN:2079-4991