Bilayer Bismuth Selenide nanoplatelets based saturable absorber for ultra-short pulse generation (Invited)

Based on an efficient and bottom-up synthesis technique, Bismuth Selenide (Bi2Se3) nanoplatelets with uniform morphology and average thickness down to 3-7 nm had been fabricated. Its nonlinear absorption property under high power excitation had been well characterized by our Z-scan measurement system at different illumination wavelengths, and we found that the as-fabricated bi-layer Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets show unique nonlinear optical responses, that is, with a saturable optical intensity of 32 GW/cm(2) (resp. 3.7 MW/cm(2)) and a modulation depth of 88% (resp. 36%) at 800 nm (resp. 1565 nm). By implementing its saturable absorption property, we designed an optical saturable absorber device based on bilayer Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets through deposited them onto the end-facet of optical fiber. The as fabricated optical saturable absorber device allows for the generation of mode-locking pulses at 1571 nm with pulse duration of 579 fs and a repetition rate of 12.54 MHz at a pump power of 160 mW. The method on fabricating ultrathin Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets may pave a new way to massive production of large-area topological insulator thin films that can be used in two-dimensional layered materials related photonics device. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.