Single-Nanosecond-Pulse Lasing in Heavily Doped Fe:ZnSe

Vladimir A Antonov,Sergey V Podlesnykh,Timophey V Dolmatov,Nikolay V Zhavoronkov,Igor G Kononov,Evgeny M Gavrishchuk,Mariya V Ponarina,Anatoly A Sirotkin,Petr A Obraztsov,Konstantin N Firsov,Vladimir V Bukin

doi:10.1109/jphot.2020.3046363

Vladimir A Antonov, Sergey V Podlesnykh + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/jphot.2020.3046363

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Journal: IEEE Photonics Journal	Publication Date: Dec 21, 2020
Citations: 14	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Prokhorov General Physics Institute

Abstract

We investigated room-temperature pulsed lasing in heavily doped Fe:ZnSe single crystals. The active elements were pumped by a Q-switched Cr 3+ :Yb 3+ :Ho 3+ :YSGG laser operating at 2.87 μm. Our results show that the generation of short laser pulses has a deep high-frequency modulation associated with relaxation dynamics in Fe:ZnSe. The lasing regime obtained in this study provides a straightforward way to generate mid-IR single nanosecond pulses at moderate pump energies. Moreover, we found a relation between the lasing pulse duration and the concentration of Fe 2+ doping ions, and we experimentally demonstrated pulse shortening in heavily doped active crystals. Single-pulse lasing with an FWHM pulse duration of ~2.8 ns was achieved in ZnSe crystals doped with 2.3 · 10 19 cm -3 Fe 2+ ions. The demonstrated single-pulse lasing regime is applicable for seeding high-power mid-IR laser systems.

Highlights

Lasers based on optically pumped Fe:ZnSe crystals have been studied for many years [1]–[26]
We investigated room-temperature pulsed lasing in heavily doped Fe:ZnSe single crystals
Single-pulse lasing with an FWHM pulse duration of ∼2.8 ns was achieved in ZnSe crystals doped with 2.3 · 1019 cm-3 Fe2+ ions

Summary

Introduction

Lasers based on optically pumped Fe:ZnSe crystals have been studied for many years [1]–[26] These solid-state sources allow for the generation of powerful coherent radiation in the spectral range of 4–5 μm, which is important for several practical applications (molecular spectroscopy, physical experiments at high radiation flux densities, environmental monitoring, medical applications, etc.). Fe:ZnSe and other active media based on chalcogenides doped with transition metal ions are characterized by a broad gain bandwidth [7], [8]. We report the room-temperature generation of single few-nanosecond-long pulses in heavily doped Fe:ZnSe [17] pumped with a Q-switched solid-state laser. The demonstrated lasing regime opens up possibilities for developing novel master oscillators for high-power mid-IR laser systems

Experimental Setup

Results and Discussion

Conclusion