Nanosecond-pulsed, dual-wavelength, passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped bulk laser based on few-layer MoS2 saturable absorber

A compact saturable absorber mirror (SAM) based on few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoplatelets was fabricated and successfully used as an efficient saturable absorber (SA) for the passively Q-switched solid-state laser at 1 mu m wavelength. Pulses as short as 182 ns were obtained from a ytterbium-doped (Yb:LGGG) bulk laser Q-switched by the MoS2 SAM, which we believe to be the shortest one ever achieved from the MoS2 SAs-based Q-switched bulk lasers. A maximum average output power of 0.6 W was obtained with a slope efficiency of 24%, corresponding to single pulse energy up to 1.8 mu J. In addition, the simultaneous dual-wavelength Q-switching at 1025.2 and 1028.1 nm has been successfully achieved. The results indicate the promising potential of few-layer MoS2 nanoplatelets as nonlinear optical switches for achieving efficient pulsed bulk lasers. (C) 2015 Chinese Laser Press