Fibre lasers are used as light sources in many fields of science and technology, and the inclusion of a saturable absorber inside the laser cavity enables ultrafast pulses to be generated. It has now been demonstrated that single-wall carbon nonotubes are excellent saturable absorbers, especially in the 1.3–1.5 μm wavelength region used for optical communications, enabling the output of ultrafast fibre lasers to be tuned over wide range of wavelengths.
- F. Wang
- A. G. Rozhin
- A. C. Ferrari
