Optical limiting performances of transitional metal dichalcogenides MX 2 (M = V, Nb, Ta; X = S, Se) with ultralow initial threshold and optical limiting threshold

The optical limiting performances of few-layer transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) nanosheets in the VB group (VS2, VSe2, NbS2, NbSe2, TaS2, and TaSe2) were systematically investigated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. It was found that these TMDs nanosheets showed a normalized transmittance in the range of 20%–40% at the input energy of 1.28 GW/cm2. Ultralow initial threshold FS (0.05–0.10 J/cm2) and optical limiting threshold FOL (0.82–2.23 J/cm2) were achieved in the TMDs nanosheets, which surpassed most of the optical limiting materials. This work showed the potential of TMDs beyond MoS2 in optical limiting field.