Synthesis and optical nonlinearity investigation of novel Fe3O4@Ti3C2 MXene hybrid nanomaterials from 1 to 2 μm

Abstract

In the present work, we synthesize an Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene hybrid nanomaterial. Comprehensive investigation on the morphology and structure of the prepared Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene demonstrates the strong interaction between Ti₃C₂ MXene and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The open-aperture Z-scan technology is utilized to study the nonlinear absorption features of the Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanocomposite from 1 to 2 μm, showing a large modulation depth and a relatively low saturable intensity. The nonlinear absorption properties make the prepared Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene hybrid nanomaterial a potential photonic device for optical pulse generation. As a consequence, passively Q-switched bulk lasers based on the prepared Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene nanomaterial saturable absorber are demonstrated in the operation band of 1–2 μm for the first time, producing the shortest pulse duration of 119 ns. The corresponding highest pulse energy and the maximum pulse energy are 0.6 μJ and 2.3 W, respectively. Our results confirm that the Fe₃O₄@Ti₃C₂ MXene hybrid nanomaterial we synthesized possesses a large optical nonlinearity, which could be a candidate for optical pulse generation in a wide operating band from 1 to 2 μm.