Q-switched Tm³⁺-doped fiber laser with a micro-fiber based black phosphorus saturable absorber

We report a passively Q-switched Tm³⁺-doped fiber laser using a black phosphorus deposited micro-fiber (BPDMF) as a saturable absorption (SA) device for the first time. The BPDMF prepared by depositing black phosphorus (BP) on the micro-fiber waist with heat convention effect and optical tweezer effect has a measured modulation depth of 40.2% and a nonsaturable loss of 55.9%. By employing this device in an all-fiber ring cavity, a stable Q-switched pulse train at 1948 nm was achieved with a repetition rate from 12.5 to 28.1 kHz and a pulse width from 15.1 to 5.6 μ s, respectively. (paper)