Mxene: A New Kind of Nonlinear Optical 2D Material

Two-dimensional materials have a variety of novel physical and chemical properties that are different from bulk materials, and perfectly meet the increasing demand for miniaturization, integration, high efficiency, and multifunctional devices. Among them, two-dimensional non-linear optical materials are indispensable and important elements for nano-devices such as non-linear photonics, plasmon, and optical-electrical / magnetic / acoustic mutual control. Wide attention from field researchers. As a pioneering two-dimensional material, Graphene and its related carbon-based materials, such as carbon nanotubes and fullerenes, first entered people‘s field of vision and achieved many dazzling achievements. However, due to the intrinsic zero-bandgap structure of graphene, its application in the field of optoelectronics is limited to a certain extent. Researchers have gradually extended their goals to other two-dimensional materials, such as new two-dimensional materials such as black phosphorus, transition metal disulfides (TMDCs), and topological insulators, and have also obtained many exciting results. Nonetheless, the preparation technology of these materials is still immature, people lack systematic research on the properties of materials, and new materials are constantly emerging, which materials will lead the new two-dimensional nonlinear optical materials in the future is still an open Proposition.

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Recently, the team of Professor Zhang Huan (click to view introduction) of Shenzhen University successfully prepared a "cong-shaped" two-dimensional layered MXene material Ti3C2Tx by chemical etching, and systematically studied its broadband third-order nonlinear optical performance. Applying it to an all-fiber mode-locked laser, it achieved 159 fs ultra-short pulse output in the fiber communication band. MXene specifically refers to a type of material system composed of Mn + 1XnTx, where M represents a pre-transition metal, X represents C or N, and T represents a modified body on a two-dimensional material surface, and n usually ranges from 1-3. Based on the chemical richness of the system, more than 70 MXene materials have been reported. MXene material has its own surface modification, which gives it excellent organic compatibility and biocompatibility. The combination of metal elements and C / N elements also gives MXene materials good electrical properties. It is worth noting that this good electrical performance does not affect the excellent optical performance of MXene. The linear absorption of MXene is about 1% / nm, which is much lower than that of graphene‘s 2.3% / single layer (the thickness of each single layer of graphene is ~ 1nm). In addition, the preparation methods of MXene materials also tend to mature and industrialize. At present, there are many companies on the market that can provide industrial-grade MXene materials, including Y. Gogotsi, MXene‘s discoverer Ukraine. However, until this working system explores the nonlinear optical performance of MXene, few related reports have been reported.

Considering the rich material system and excellent optoelectronic properties of the MXene family, especially the broadband nonlinear optical response characteristics, this achievement has unearthed a rich treasure trove of materials for researchers in the field of two-dimensional materials and nano-optoelectronics research. The results were published in Laser & Photonics Reviews as a front cover paper. The first authors are Jiang Xiantao and Liu Shunxiang of the School of Optoelectronics of Shenzhen University.
Information source: x-mol.com