Ultrathin 2D Transition Metal Carbides for Ultrafast Pulsed Fiber Lasers

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and black phosphorus, have attracted intense interest for applications in ultrafast pulsed laser generation, owing to their strong light-matter interactions and large optical nonlinearities. However, due to the mismatch of the bandgap, many of these 2D materials are not suitable for applications at near-infrared (NIR) waveband. Here, we report nonlinear optical properties of 2D α-Mo2C crystals and the usage of 2D α-Mo2C as a new broadband saturable absorber for pulsed laser generation. It was found that 2D α-Mo2C crystals have excellent saturable absorption properties in terms of largely tunable modulation de..