All fiber mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser using single-walled carbon nanotubes embedded into polyvinyl alcohol film as saturable absorber

•Demonstration of all-fiber mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs).•SWCNTs are embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a saturable absorber.•Generation of a self-starting dissipative soliton pulse operating in 1533.6 nm region•Output solitons have a pulse duration of 1.8 ps with a repetition rate of 15.3 MHz.•At pump power of 71.0 mW, the pulse energy and peak power, respectively, are approximately 0.28 nJ and 148 W.

We experimentally demonstrate an all-fiber mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), which is embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a saturable absorber. The laser generates a self-starting dissipative soliton pulse, which operates in 1533.6 nm region without any additional spectral filter as a 980 nm pump power is increased above the threshold value of 35.2 mW, respectively. The output solitons have a pulse duration of 1.8 ps with a repetition rate of 15.3 MHz. At pump power of 71.0 mW, the pulse energy and peak power are approximately 0.28 nJ and 148 W.