Graphene–Polymer Nanofiber Membrane for Ultrafast Photonics

Abstract A freestanding membrane composed of a nanofiber network of a graphene–polymer nanocomposite is fabricated by electrospinning and applied as an optical element in fiber lasers. The functionalization of graphene with conjugated organic molecules provides a handle for improving mechanical and thermal properties as well as tuning the optical properties. A small loading (0.07 wt%) of functionalized graphene enhances the total optical absorption of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) by 10 times. The electrospun graphene–polymer nanocomposites exhibit wideband saturable absorbance for laser pulse shaping, and attain a larger modulation depth and smaller nonsaturable loss than single‐walled carbon nanotubes. The results show that electrospun graphene nanocomposites are promising candidates as practical and efficient photonic materials for the generation of ultrashort pulses in fiber lasers.