Hybrid mode-locked fiber laser with Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Abstract As a typical zero-dimensional (0D) material, Fe3O4 nanoparticles have been extensively used in various fields because of their unique properties. In this work, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are prepared by the chemical co-precipitation technology, which show nonlinear optical response. By employing Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a slow saturable absorber (SSA) and nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE) as a fast saturable absrober (FSA), a self-started hybrid mode-locked Er-doped fiber (EDF) laser can be easily acquired, which generates the stable pulse train with pulse duration of 361 fs. Pulse duration decreased 35 fs when compared to use NPE SA. This research work suggests that Fe3O4 nanoparticles could be developed as potential SAs for ultrafast nano-photonics applications.