Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser using an aqueous solution of gold nanorods and polyvinyl alcohol

Authors reported the generation of Q - Switched pulses in an erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber laser using an aqueous solution of colloidal gold nanorods (GNRs) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) as a saturable absorber (SA). The effect of the GNRs and PVA concentrations on the pulses has been explored. Passive Q-Switching is achieved at 1.1 W (1.8 A). Pulses with a minimum width of 9.6 µs having a repetition rate of 21.5 kHz and a maximum energy of 0.15 µJ at 1.56 μm are obtained for a pump current of 2.195 W (3.12 A).