Nanosecond passively Q-switched Nd: YVO4 laser based on WS2 saturable absorber

<p> We report on a nanosecond pulse generation in a diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd: YVO4 laser using a tungsten disulfide (WS2) solution saturable absorber (SA). The WS2 suspension is fabricated by the liquid-phase-exfoliated method and injected into a quartz cell for the use of SA. Compared with solid absorber, such solution absorber has the virtues of good optical transparency, high heat dissipation and long term stability. By inserting the WS2 solution SA in the laser cavity, a stable Q-switched laser operation centered at 1064.45 nm wavelength is obtained with the shortest pulse duration of 788 ns and corresponding repetition rate of 333.5 kHz. The maximum average output power is registered to be 720 mW with the slope efficiency of 7.8%. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest output power so far among pulsed lasers based on transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) SAs. The results demonstrate that WS2 solution absorber is a promising saturable absorber for the generation of high output power pulsed lasers.