1.3 μm passively Q-Switched bismuth doped fiber laser using Nb2C saturable absorber

Abstract A tunable passively Q-switched fiber laser operating at 1.3 μm was demonstrated using bismuth-doped fiber (BDF) as the gain medium and using niobium carbide (Nb2C) as the saturable absorber (SA). The Nb2C was prepared using the solution casting method, and then fabricated into a film form for ease of integration into the laser cavity. Stable Q-switched pulses were observed as the pump power was increased from 820 to 1037 mW, generating pulses with increasing repetition rates from 10.1 kHz to 13.8 kHz and decreasing pulse widths from 17.54 to 7.58 μs. The all-fiber laser had a center wavelength at 1314 nm with a broad 3-dB bandwidth of 8.35 nm. The maximum output power and pulse energy of the Q-switched laser were 0.74 mW and 53.7 nJ, respectively. The laser was stable when tested for its long-term stability, where the peak frequency remained consistent at 13.8 kHz and the SNRs were maintained to be more than 60 dB throughout the entire test period. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration for a passively Q-switched fiber laser operating at 1.3 μm wavelength region using BDF as the gain medium.