Passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1.3 μm with a graphene oxide and ferroferric-oxide nanoparticle hybrid as a saturable absorber

A self-made saturable absorber (SA) based on hybridized graphene oxide (GO) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (FONP) was inserted into a linear cavity to generate a passively Q-switched solid-state Nd:YVO4 laser operating at the 1.3 mu m waveband. The laser had a minimum pulse width of 163 ns and a maximum repetition rate of 314 kHz. This experiment, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to demonstrate that hybridized GO and FONP (GO-FONP) can be used as an SA in passively Q-switched pulse lasers. Results show that GO-FONP has the potential to be used for passively Q-switched laser generation. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America