A passively Q-switched operation of Tm:YAP laser with a zeolite imidazole framework-8 saturable absorber

A passively Q-switched (PQS) Tm:YAP solid laser using a zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-8) as saturable absorber (SA) was reported systematically. The nonlinear optical absorption properties of ZIF-8 SA was characterized. The modulation depth and saturable absorption were calculated to be 4.6% and 0.38 MW/cm2, respectively. Under a pumped power of 9.49 W, an average power of 649 mW was generated with a narrowest pulse width of 961 ns and a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 44.59 kHz, corresponding to a single pulse energy of 14.55 μJ that at the central wavelength of 1988 nm. The results well demonstrate the great potential of ZIF-8 as a SA in achieving high performance mid-infrared pulsed lasers.