1T′ vs. 2H MoTe₂ Saturable Absorbers in Passively Q-Switched Lasers

Molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂), a novel transition metal chalcogenide, exhibits considerable potential for applications in optoelectronic devices. In this article, 1T′ and 2H phases of MoTe₂ were fabricated into saturable absorbers utilizing the liquid-phase exfoliation technique. The nonlinear saturable absorption characteristics of the 1T′&2H MoTe₂ saturable absorbers were evaluated through the open-aperture Z-scan method. Furthermore, passively Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers were developed based on the 1T′&2H MoTe₂ saturable absorbers. The results indicate that the 1T′ phase of MoTe₂ demonstrates superior performance compared to the 2H phase in terms of producing lasers with narrow pulse widths and high repetition rates.