Indium Tin Oxide Nanowire Arrays as a Saturable Absorber for Mid-Infrared Er:Ca0.8Sr0.2F2 Laser

We demonstrated a passively Q-switched Er:Ca0.8Sr0.2F2 laser with indium tin oxide nanowire arrays as an optical modulator in the mid-infrared region. In the Q-switched regime, the maximum output power of 58 mW with a slope efficiency of 18.3% was acquired. Meanwhile, the minimum pulse duration and highest repetition rate of the stable pulse trains were 490 ns and 17.09 kHz, corresponding to single pulse energy of 3.4 mu J and peak power of 6.93 W, respectively. To the best of our knowledge it was the first time that indium tin oxide nanowire arrays were employed as a saturable absorber to make pulse lasers carried out at 2.8 mu m. The experimental data show that indium tin oxide nanowire arrays can be employed as a competitive candidate for saturable absorber in the field of mid-infrared solid-state lasers.

Automated summary

In this study, we successfully demonstrated a passively Q-switched laser with indium tin oxide nanowire arrays as an optical modulator. The experimental results showed that the laser achieved good performance at a wavelength of 2.8 mu m, indicating that indium tin oxide nanowire arrays have the potential to be a competitive candidate for saturable absorbers in the field of mid-infrared solid-state lasers.