Ultrashort Pulse Generation in EDFL Cavities using Graphene as Saturable Absorber for applications in optical communications systems

Abstract

Graphene and 2D materials are being used in the design of light sources due to their wide absorption spectrum, ultrafast recovery time and high modulation depth. In this work, we present a experimental design of an modelocking Erbium-Doped-Fiber-Laser (EDFL) that uses graphene deposited onto D-shaped optical fiber, acting as a saturable absorber, in order to generate ultra-short pulses in an important region for optical communications: 1558.5 nm. To best of our knowledge, this is the first ultrashort pulses laser designed an experimentally validated in Colombia. The results shows a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 33.3 MHz and a spectral width of 10 nm.