MXenes: Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Applications in Ultrafast Photonics

As a kind of 2D material, MXenes are gradually used as saturable absorbers to realize ultrafast pulses in lasers. This review summarizes the latest progress of MXenes, focuses on the synthesis, optical properties, and applications in ultrafast photonics, as well as stimulates the exploration of novel MXenes and promotes the balance between easy fabrication and better  performance. AbstractRecently, 2D materials are in great demand for various applications such as optical devices, supercapacitors, sensors, and biomedicine. MXenes as a kind of novel 2D material have attracted considerable research interest due to their outstanding mechanical, thermal, electrical, and optical properties. Especially, the excellent nonlinear optical response enables them to be potential candidates for the applications in ultrafast photonics. Here, a review of MXenes synthesis, optical properties, and applications in ultrafast lasers is presented. First, aqueous acid etching and chemical vapor deposition methods for preparing MXenes are introduced, in which the storage stability and challenges of the existing synthesis techniques are also discussed. Then, the optical properties of MXenes are discussed specifically, including plasmonic properties, optical detection, photothermal effects, and ultrafast dynamics. Furthermore, the typical ultrafast pulsed lasers enabled by MXene ‐based saturable absorbers operated at different wavelength regions are summarized. Finally, a summary and outlook on the ...

Source: Small - February 16, 2021 Category: Nanotechnology Authors: Bo Fu, Jingxuan Sun, Cong Wang, Ce Shang, Lijun Xu, Jiebo Li, Han Zhang Tags: Review Source Type: research