Multi-layered black phosphorus as saturable absorber for pulsed Cr:ZnSe laser at 2.4 μm

A high-quality black phosphorus (BP) saturable-absorber mirror (SAM) was successfully fabricated with the multi-layered BP, prepared by liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method. The modulation depth and saturation power intensity of BP absorber were measured to be 10.7% and 0.96 MW/cm(2), respectively. Using the BP-SAM, we experimentally demonstrated the mid-infrared (mid-IR) pulse generation from a BP Q-switched Cr:ZnSe laser for the first time to our best knowledge. Stable Q-switched pulse as short as 189 ns with an average output power of 36 mW was realized at 2.4 mu m, corresponding to a repetition rate of 176 kHz and a single pulse energy of 205 nJ. Our work sufficiently validated that multi-layer BP could be used as an optical modulator for mid-IR pulse laser sources. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America