| Summary: | Due to the tunable nonlinear optical properties of the Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/graphene heterostructure, stable solid state pulsed lasers based on the Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/graphene saturable absorber have attracted intensive attention. In this work, the Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/graphene heterostructure with good nonlinear absorption characteristics was synthesized by a self-assembly solvothermal route, and the optical saturable absorption properties of the saturable absorber were investigated. Owing to the large modulation depth of Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> nanosheets and the high thermal conductivity of graphene, the Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/graphene heterostructure saturable absorber shown good nonlinear saturable absorber performance and contributed the improved passively Q-switched Yb<sup>3+</sup>: GdAl<sub>3</sub>(BO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>4</sub> pulsed laser when compared with that of the pure Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> based Yb<sup>3+</sup>: GdAl<sub>3</sub>(BO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>4</sub> laser, no matter pulse width or pulse energy. Our work demonstrates that the Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>/graphene heterostructure was a promising saturable absorber in ~1 <i>μ</i>m solid-state pulsed lasers.
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