Scientists are in the constant search of novel materials, or innovative applications of existing materials to solve problems we face in our everyday life. Although graphene, the two-dimensional (2D) form of carbon, has been a star

Black phosphorus (BP) is a promising material for ultrafast and broadband photodetection because of its narrow bandgap from 0.35 eV (bulk) to 1.8 eV (monolayer) and high carrier mobility. Although photodetectors based on BP with d

The all-optical approach plays an important role in ultrafast all-optical signal processing, and the all-fiber scheme has a wide application in optical communications. In this letter, we investigate an all-optical modulator using

Ultrafast lasers play an important role in a variety of applications ranging from optical communications to medical diagnostics and industrial materials processing. Graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) noncarbon materials, incl

The direct generation of passively Q-switched lasers at a green wavelength has rarely been investigated in the past. In this Letter, we demonstrate a passively Q-switched praseodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride green laser at

Initiated by graphene, two-dimensional (2D) layered materials have attracted much attention owing to their novel layer-number-dependent physical and chemical properties. To fully utilize those properties, a fast and accurate deter

Materials in the transition metal dichalcogenide family, including WS2, MoS2, WSe2, and MoSe2, etc., have captured a substantial amount of attention due to their remarkable nonlinearities and optoelectronic properties. Compared wi

As the typical material of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), few-layered MoS2 possesses broadband saturable absorption and a large nonlinear refractive index, which could be regarded as a promising candidate

A highly stable Q-switched laser incorporating a mechanically exfoliated tungsten sulphoselenide (WSSe) thin sheet saturable absorber (SA) is proposed and demonstrated. The SA assembly, formed by sandwiching a thin WSSe sheet betw

The simultaneous dual-band pulsed amplification is demonstrated from an Er/Yb co-doped fiber (EYDF), and consequently a high-power all-fiber single-mode 1.0/1.5 μm dual-band pulsed master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser so

Q-switched operation of an Nd:LuAG laser using gold nanorods (GNRs) as the saturable absorber (SA) is reported, which also produces the highest average power among the nanosecond Nd-doped Q-switched lasers by GNRs-based SA. The ap

We have prepared the graphene/MoS2 heterostructure by a hydrothermal method, and presented its nonlinear absorption parameters and application as a nonlinear optical modulator in the mid-infrared region. Using the nonlinear optica

A diode-pumped Tm:YLF passively Q-switched laser at 2 μm was first demonstrated by using graphene oxide (GO) as a saturable absorber (SA). In this letter, continuous-wave (CW) laser and pulse laser performances were studied meticu

A tunable passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser using few-layer gallium selenide (GaSe) as a saturable absorber (SA) is demonstrated. The few-layer GaSe SA, which is fabricated by the mechanical exfoliation method, is a

Using a novel silver nanorods absorber with a localized surface plasmon resonance absorption peak at 1.06 μm, we obtain a diode-pumped passively Q-switched (PQS) Nd,Gd:CaF2 disordered crystal laser output. Its PQS pulse laser perf

We demonstrate a dual-wavelength passively Q-switched Nd3+-doped glass fiber laser using a few-layer topological insulator Bi2Se3 as a saturable absorber (SA) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The laser resonator i

The potential of bulk-like WTe2 particles for the realization of a passive Q-switch operating at the 1 μm wavelength was investigated. The WTe2 particles were prepared using a simple mechanical exfoliation method together with Sco

We report the fabrication of an MoS2 black phosphorus (BP) composite saturable absorber by liquid phase exfoliation and the spin-coating method and further exploitation to build a 2 μm passively Q-switched Tm:YAP laser. Such a com

We propose and demonstrate a passively harmonic mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using carbon nanotubes polyvinyl alcohol (CNTs-PVA) film. The laser allows generation of the pulses with a repetition rate of 580 MHz, whi

High-power ultrafast fiber lasers operating at the 2 μm wavelength are extremely desirable for material processing, laser surgery, and nonlinear optics. Here we fabricated large-core (LC) double-cladding Tm-doped silica fiber via