Stable Q-switched and mode-locked erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs) are first demonstrated by using the novel layered palladium disulfide (PdS2), a new member of group 10 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)-based saturable absorbers (SAs). Self-started Q-switched operation at 1567 nm was achieved with a threshold pump power of 50.6 mW. The modulation ranges of pulse duration and repetition rate were characterized as 12.6–4.5 μs and 17.2–26.0 kHz, respectively. Meanwhile, a mode-locked EDFL was also obtained with a pump power threshold of 106.4 mW. The achieved pulse duration is 803 fs, corresponding to a center wavelength of 1565.8 nm and 4.48 nm 3 dB bandwidth. To the best of our knowledge, the achieved pulse duration of the mode-locked EDFL in this work is the narrowest compared with all other group 10 TMD SA-based lasers.

The novel vertically standing PtSe2 film on transparent quartz was prepared by selenization of platinum film deposited by the magnetron sputtering method, and an Nd:LuVO4 passively mode-locked solid-state laser was realized by using the fabricated PtSe2 film as a saturable absorber. The X-ray diffraction pattern and Raman spectrum of the film indicate its good crystallinity with a layered structure. The thickness of PtSe2 film is measured to be 24 nm according to the cross-section height profile of the atomic force microscope image. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images clearly demonstrate its vertically standing structure with an interlayer distance of 0.54 nm along the c-axis direction. The modulation depth (ΔT) and saturation fluence ( s) of PtSe2 film are measured to be 12.6% and 17.1 μJ/cm2, respectively. The obtained mode-locked laser spectrum has a central wavelength of 1066.573 nm, with a 3 dB bandwidth of 0.106 nm. The transform limited pulse width of the mode-locked laser was calculated to be 15.8 ps. A maximum average output power of 180 mW with a working repetition rate of 61.3 MHz is obtained. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the generation of ultrafast mode-locked laser pulses by using layered PtSe2 as a saturable absorber.