Few-layer rhenium diselenide: an ambient-stable nonlinear optical modulator

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), a family of two-dimensional layered materials exhibiting unusual electronic, optical, mechanical properties, have aroused much attention in recent years. Here, we focus on the nonlinear saturable absorption behavior of a new family member of TMDs, rhenium diselenide (ReSe2), and its application in pulsed laser generation. We have prepared the few-layer ReSe2 by the mechanical exfoliation method, and validated its ambient-stable nonlinear optical responses and all-optical tunable potential at 1.55 mu m. In addition, the ambient-stable and parameter-tunable Q-switched fiber laser modulated by the ReSe2 has been realized. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement