UNIVERSITY OF SEOUL

- Selected as a back cover paper in the Journal of Material Chemistry C, an internationally renowned journal in the field of nanoscience

A team of researchers led by Professor Lee Ju-han of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Seoul (President Won Yong-gul), including co-first authors Kyung-taek Lee and Seo-young Kwon, announced the development of an ultra-wideband saturable absorber technology based on MXene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial that has been attracting attention as a 'dream new material'.

The research was published on November 21, 2023 as a back cover article in The Journal of Materials Chemistry C, an internationally renowned journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom.

▲ Illustration of the development of ultra-wideband saturable absorber fabrication technology based on two-dimensional maxine MXene

Maxine is a two-dimensional nanomaterial with alternating metal and carbon layers, which has high electrical conductivity and excellent chemical properties, and is attracting attention in various fields such as electronics, new materials, and chemical engineering.

By utilizing the optical nonlinearity in the infrared band of niobium carbide, a type of maxine, the research team developed an optical fiber-based saturable absorber fabrication technology that enables ultra-wideband operation including not only near-infrared but also shortwave infrared bands. In particular, by inserting one fabricated saturable absorber into a 1.5-um band laser and a 1.9-um band laser, both lasers were able to realize stable ultrashort pulse output, demonstrating the laser application of the fabricated saturable absorber.

▲ Prof. Lee Ju-Han, Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Seoul, First author, Kyung-Taek Lee, Research Associate, Center, and Seo-Young Kwon, Research Associate, Right, First author

Professor Lee Said "The saturable absorber based on the optical nonlinearity of Nb4C3 maxine revealed in this study is expected to have excellent performance and can be applied to actual industrial applications. We plan to commercialize maxine-based saturable absorber and ultrashort pulse fiber lasers through our start-up company, Chromanet ( www.kromanet.com)" 

This research was funded by the Korea Research Foundation's Early Research Center (ERC) program and the STEAM Research Future Promising Convergence Technology Pioneer Program.