Mode-locked fiber laser using an SU8/SWCNT saturable absorber

We report the fabrication of a saturable absorber based on SU8 single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composite material. Thin films with a controllable thickness can be fabricated using a simple and reliable process. These films can be inserted between two FC/APC connectors in order to have an inline saturable absorber. A passive mode-locked laser was built by interleaving the fiberized saturable absorber in an erbium-doped fiber ( L-band) ring cavity laser. The laser produces 871 fs pulses with a repetition rate of 21.27 MHz and a maximum average power of 1mW. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America