title: Gold nanoparticles as a saturable absorber for visible 635 nm Q-switched pulse generation.
abstract: Gold nanoparticle (GNP) possesses saturable absorption bands in the visible region induced by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). We firstly applied the GNP as a visible saturable absorber (SA) for the red Q-switched pulse generation. The GNPs were embedded in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for film-forming and inserted into a praseodymium (Pr(3+))-doped fiber laser cavity to achieve 635 nm passive Q-switching. The visible 635 nm Q-switched fiber laser has a wide range of pulse-repetition-rate from 285.7 to 546.4 kHz, and a narrow pulse width of 235 ns as well as the maximum output power of 11.1 mW. The results indicate that the GNPs-based SA is available for pulsed operation in the visible spectral range.
authors.forename: Duanduan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Zhiping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Zhengqian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Huiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu