Nanotube Polymer Composites for Ultrafast Photonics
Polymer composites are one of the most attractive near term means to exploit the unique properties of carbon nanotubes and graphene. This is particularly true for composites aimed at electronics and photonics, where a number of promising applications have already been demonstrated. One such example is nanotube based saturable absorbers. These can be used as all optical switches, optical amplifier noise suppressors, or mode lockers to generate ultrashort laser pulses. Here, we review various aspects of fabrication, characterization, device implementation and operation of nanotube polymer composites to be used in photonic applications. We also summarize recent results on graphene based saturable absorbers for ultrafast lasers.