Bi2Te3/Graphene Heterostructure as the Saturable Absorber for ~1.0 μm Passively Q-switched Solid State Pulsed Laser

Due to the tunable nonlinear optical properties of the Bi2Te3/graphene heterostructure, stable solid state pulsed lasers based on the Bi2Te3/graphene saturable absorber have attracted intensive attention. In this work, the Bi2Te3/graphene heterostructure with good nonlinear absorption characteristics was synthesized by a self-assembly solvothermal route, and the optical saturable absorption properties of the saturable absorber were investigated. Owing to the large modulation depth of Bi2Te3 nanosheets and the high thermal conductivity of graphene, the Bi2Te3/graphene heterostructure saturable absorber shown good nonlinear saturable absorber performance and contributed the improved passively Q-switched Yb3+: GdAl3(BO3)(4) pulsed laser when compared with that of the pure Bi2Te3 based Yb3+: GdAl3(BO3)(4) laser, no matter pulse width or pulse energy. Our work demonstrates that the Bi2Te3/graphene heterostructure was a promising saturable absorber in ~1 mu m solid-state pulsed lasers.