High energy soliton pulse generation by a magnetron-sputtering-deposition-grown MoTe2 saturable absorber

The pulse energy in the ultrafast soliton fiber laser oscillators is usually limited by the well-known wave-breaking phenomenon owing to the absence of a desirable real saturable absorber (SA) with high power tolerance and large modulation depth. Here, we report a type of microfiber-based MoTe2 SA fabricated by the magnetron-sputtering deposition (MSD) method. High-energy wave-breaking free soliton pulses were generated with pulse duration/pulse energy/average output power of 229 fs/2.14 nJ/57 mW in the 1.5 μm regime and 1.3 ps/13.8 nJ/212 mW in the 2 μm regime, respectively. To our knowledge, the generated soliton pulses at 1.5 μm had the shortest pulse duration and the highest output power among the reported erbium-doped fiber lasers mode locked by transition metal dichalcogenides. Moreover, this was the first demonstration of a MoTe2-based SA in fiber lasers in the 2 μm regime, and the pulse energy/output power are the highest in the reported thulium-doped fiber lasers mode locked by two-dimensional materials. Our results suggest that a microfiber-based MoTe2 SA could be used as an excellent photonic device for ultrafast pulse generation, and the MSD technique opens a promising route to produce a high-performance SA with high power tolerance and large modulation depth, which are beneficial for high-energy wave-breaking free pulse generation.