Metallic 2H-tantalum selenide nanomaterials as saturable absorber for dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber laser

Abstract

A novel 2H-phase transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-tantalum selenide (TaSe2) with metallic bandgap structure is a potential photoelectric material. A band structure simulation of TaSe2 via ab initio method indicated its metallic property. An effective multilayered TaSe2 saturable absorber (SA) was fabricated using liquid-phase exfoliation and optically driven deposition. The prepared 2H-TaSe2 SA was successfully used for a dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber laser with the minimum pulse width of 2.95 µs and the maximum peak power of 64 W. The repetition rate of the maximum pulse energy of 89.9 kHz was at the level of 188.9 nJ. The metallic 2H-TaSe2 with satisfactory saturable absorbing capability is a promising candidate for pulsed laser applications.