title: Carbon nanotube films for ultrafast broadband technology.
abstract: Mode-locked sub-picosecond operation of Yb-, Er- and Tm:Hodoped fiber lasers operating at 1.05 microm, 1.56 microm and 1.99 microm, respectively, is demonstrated using the same sample carbon nanotube-based saturable absorber mirror. A mesh of single-walled carbon nanotubes was deposited on an Ag-mirror using a one-step dry-transfer contact press method to combine broadband saturable absorption and high reflectance properties. The novel fabrication method of the polymer-free absorber and device parameters determined using nonlinear reflectivity measurement are described in detail. To our knowledge the observed operation bandwidth of approximately 1 microm is the broadest reported to date for a single carbon nanotube-based saturable absorber.
authors.affiliation: Optoelectronics Research Centre, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 692, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland. samuli.kivisto@tut.fi
authors.forename: Samuli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kivistö
authors.forename: Tommi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hakulinen
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaskela
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aitchison
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Albert G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Nasibulin
authors.forename: Esko I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Kauppinen
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Härkönen
authors.forename: Oleg G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Okhotnikov
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007834:Lasers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon