Quantum dot cadmium selenide as a saturable absorber for Q-switched and mode-locked double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber lasers

This paper demonstrates the integration of quantum dot (QD) cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles, which is embedded into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) film into an ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) cavity to produce Q-switched and mode-locked fiber lasers. The QD CdSe based film functions as a saturable absorber (SA). For Q-switching operation, stable pulse is generated within 970-1200 mW pump power, with tunable repetition rate and pulse width of 24.5-40.5 kHz and 6.8-3.7 µs, respectively. Maximum pulse energy and peak power are obtained about 1.1 µJ and 0.28 W, respectively. As we tune the polarization state of the laser cavity and use a single QD CdSe film, the mode-locking operation could also be generated within 310-468 mW pump power with repetition rate of 14.5 MHz and pulse width of 3.5 ps. Maximum pulse energy and peak power are obtained about 2 nJ and 0.11 W, respectively. These results may contribute to continuous research work on laser pulse generation, providing new opportunities of CdSe material in photonics applications.