Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are widely integrated in the field of optoelectronics since they are optically transparent and electrically conductive at the same time. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a well-developed TCO, but due to its high cost, aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) is now emerging as a promising low-cost replacement for ITO. This work reports on AZO thin film prepared with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a host material. The AZO–PVA thin film was incorporated into an erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) as a saturable absorber for the first time. Both Q-switched and nanosecond pulse mode-locked operation were experimentally achieved. The Q-switched EDFL operated at the center wavelength of 1559.6 nm, which had the shortest pulse width of 2.2 s, the maximum repetition rate of 86 kHz and the highest pulse energy of 47.3 nJ. The mode-locked was achieved at the center wavelength of 1560.4 nm.

透明导电氧化物 (TCO) 具有光学透明性和导电性，因此被广泛应用于光电子领域。氧化铟锡 (ITO) 是一种成熟的 TCO，但由于其成本高昂，氧化铝锌 (AZO) 现在正成为 ITO 的有前途的低成本替代品。这项工作报告了以聚乙烯醇 (PVA) 作为主体材料制备的 AZO 薄膜。AZO-PVA 薄膜首次作为可饱和吸收体并入掺铒光纤激光器（EDFL）。调Q和纳秒脉冲锁模操作均通过实验实现。Q开关EDFL工作在1559.6 nm的中心波长，其最短脉冲宽度为2.2s，最大重复频率为 86 kHz，最高脉冲能量为 47.3 nJ。锁模是在 1560.4 nm 的中心波长处实现的。