Graphene based Q-switched tunable S-band fiber laser incorporating arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG)

Abstract

We present in this paper, the result of successful fabrication of a novel graphene-based Q-switched fiber laser in the S-band region using an arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). The S-band lasing is realized by employing a depressed-cladding erbium doped fiber (DC-EDF), as the gain medium. A new ferrule-to-ferrule and stepwise optical extraction method is introduced and employed for depositing the thin graphene layer within the fiber laser cavity as the saturable absorber, while a tunable laser source (TLS) is used for depositing graphene onto the fiber ferrule. A demonstration of performance characteristics of this device is presented showing a Q-switched threshold of 65.29 mW and a range of repetition rate from 73.6 kHz to 331.1 kHz, with a linear increment. Minimum pulse duration of 1.218 μs is obtained at a pump power of 100.44 mW. Additional measurements are performed on the characteristics of the output power, pulse duration, pulse repetition rate, pulse energy, and peak power with respect to the pump power.