Sb_2Te_3 mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser at 1.93μm

Ultrafast pulse generation was demonstrated in thulium doped fiber laser mode locked by magnetron sputtering deposited Sb_2Te_3with the modulation depth,non-saturable loss,and saturable intensity of 38%,31.2%,and 3.3 MW/cm~2,respectively.Stable soliton pulses emitting at 1930.07 nm were obtained with pulse duration of 1.24 ps,a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 3.87 nm,an average output power of 130 m W,and signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)of 84 dB.To our knowledge,this is the first demonstration of Sb_2Te_3-based SA in fiber lasers at 2-μm regime.