1 © 2014 Astro Ltd Printed in the UK
1. Introduction
Passively Q-switched lasers have been widely used in laser
processing, remote sensing, spectroscopy and other research
elds. Passively Q-switched lasers have been realized by
semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors [1], carbon nano-
tubes [2, 3] and graphene [4–6]. However, cost-effective
and easily fabricated saturable absorbers with good per-
formance still appeal with much interest. In recent years,
topological insulator (TI) has attracted much attention for
its novel properties and its physical and chemical properties
have been investigated extensively [7, 8]. Further optical
experiments revealed its saturable absorption in near infra-
red with wavelength independence and large modulation
depth [9], which implied that TI was a promising saturable
absorber for passive Q-switching or mode locking in all
kinds of lasers.
Common TI materials include Bi
2
Se
3
, Bi
2
Te
3
and Sb
2
Te
3
[10]. TI was rst used in ber lasers for passive Q-switching or
mode locking. In 2012, Zhao et al used Bi
2
Se
3
in an Er-doped
ber laser (EDFL) and obtained mode locked pulse with pulse
duration of 1.57 ps [9]. In 2013 Chen et al used Bi
2
Se
3
in EDFL
and obtained Q-switching with a pulse duration of 13.4 µs and
an output power of 140 µW [11]. Luo et al used Bi
2
Se
3
in
Yb-doped ber laser and obtained Q-switching with a pulse
duration of 1.95 µs and output power of 0.46 mW [12]. In 2014,
Liu et al used Bi
2
Te
3
in EDFL and obtained mode locking with
a pulse duration of 3.17 ps [13]. Liu et al used Bi
2
Se
3
in EDFL
and obtained mode locking with a pulse width 660 fs and aver-
age output power was 1.8 mW [14]. Jung et al used Bi
2
Te
3
in
Tm-doped ber laser and obtained mode locking with a pulse
width 795 fs and average output power of 1 mW [15]. Yu et al
used Bi
2
Se
3
in EDFL and obtained passive Q-switching with
a pulse duration of 1.9 µs and output power of 22.35 mW [16].
Although a large modulation depth of TI may benet ber
lasers, the core diameter of bers is limited and the high inten-
sity may cause damage to TI. However, the spot size in solid-
state lasers can be exibly designed, which paves the way to
scaling up the output power without damage to TI in solid-state
lasers. In 2013, Yu et al used Bi
2
Se
3
in an Nd:GdVO
4
laser and
obtained passive Q-switching with shortest pulse duration of
666 ns and highest output power of 32 mW [17]. Tang et al
used Bi
2
Te
3
in an Er:YAG ceramic laser and obtained a pas-
sively Q-switched pulse with shortest pulse duration of 6.3 µs
and highest output power of 210 mW [18].
Due to non-saturable loss of TI, high-efciency gain medium in
solid-state lasers is more desirable. Yb:KGW is a good candidate for
high power laser, which is conrmed by many publications [19–25].
However, TI-modulated Yb:KGW laser has not been reported till
now. In this letter, we present a TI-modulated Yb:KGW laser with
highest output power of 439.4 mW. To our knowledge, this is the
highest output power in TI-modulated lasers to date.
Laser Physics Letters
Generation of Q-switched pulse by Bi
2
Se
3
topological insulator in Yb:KGW laser
MengtingHu, JinghuiLiu, JinrongTian, ZhiyuanDou and YanrongSong
College of Applied Sciences, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124,
People’s Republic of China
E-mail: jrtian@bjut.edu.cn and yrsong@bjut.edu.cn
Received 20 June 2014, revised 15 August 2014
Accepted for publication 18 August 2014
Published 22 September 2014
Abstract
A Q-switched Yb:KGW solid-state laser using topological insulator Bi
2
Se
3
as a saturable
absorber was demonstrated experimentally for the rst time. The Bi
2
Se
3
saturable absorber
was fabricated in a lm on a highly reective mirror. By inserting this into a Yb:KGW laser,
the Q-switched operation was obtained. The highest average output power was 439.4 mW and
the corresponding repetition rate, pulse width and pulse energy were 166.7 kHz, 1.6 μs and
2.64 μJ, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the highest output power among topological
insulator-modulated lasers with topological insulator absorbers.
Keywords: topological insulator, Bi
2
Se
3
, Q-switching, Yb:KGW
(Some gures may appear in colour only in the online journal)
M Hu et al
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115806
lPl
© 2014 Astro ltd
2014
11
laser Phys. lett.
lPl
1612-2011
10.1088/1612-2011/11/11/115806
Letters
11
laser Physics letters
Astro Ltd
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1612-2011/14/1158 0 6 +4$33.0 0
doi:10.1088/1612-2011/11/11/115806
Laser Phys. Lett. 11 (2014) 115806 (4pp)