MoTe2-Based Broadband Wavelength Tunable Eye-Safe Pulsed Laser Source at 1.9 mu m

In this letter, molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2), a new member of the transition metal dichalcogenides family, has been characterized and fabricated as an optical modulator for the development of broadband wavelength tunable laser using a Tm3+-doped CaYAlO4 crystal as a laser gain medium. The maximum average output power reaches 0.75 W with the shortest pulse width of about 0.69 mu s and repetition rate of 70.9 kHz, which leads to a pulse energy of about 10.58 mu J and peak power of 15.3 W. Keeping the MoTe2 optical modulator inside the laser resonator and at the same time introducing an undoped YAG for wavelength tuning, wavelength tunable passively Q-switched laser operation with a wavelength range of about 112 nm has been demonstrated. This letter experimentally verifies the potential of the novel 2D material MoTe2 as an optical modulator. At the same time, this letter paves the way toward the realizations of simple and compact wavelength tunable pulsed laser sources based on broadband 2D materials saturable absorbers.