1.34 µm Q-switched Nd: YVO4 laser with a reflective WS2 saturable absorber

Abstract

In this work, a Tungsten disulfide (WS2) reflective saturable absorber (SA) fabricated using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique was used in a solid state Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1.34 µm. A Q-switched laser was constructed. The shortest pulse width was 409 ns with the repetition rate of 159 kHz, and the maximum output power was 338 mW. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that short laser pulses have been generated in a solid state laser at 1.34 µm using a reflective WS2 SA fabricated by the Langmuir-Blodgett method.