Bulk Fe:ZnSe laser gain-switched by the Q-switched Er:YAG laser

Fe:ZnSe is one of the most promising materials capable of generating broadly tunable laser radiation in the wavelength range from 3.5 to 5 μm. The aim of the work was to test laser properties of the Bridgman-method-grown Fe2+:ZnSe crystal activated through the synthesis process as an active medium coherently pumped with the Q-switched Er:YAG laser whose oscillation wavelength (2937 nm) corresponds to the maximum of the Fe2+:ZnSe absorption spectrum. The Er:YAG laser generated giant pulses with the duration 160 - 200 ns and energy 20 - 30 mJ. The repetition-rate was set to be 1 Hz. The oscillation properties, such as the pulse length, energy, and generated beam spatial structure, of the Bridgman-method-grown Fe2+:ZnSe crystal used as an active medium of Fe2+:ZnSe laser operated at room temperature were investigated. The maximal obtained output energy of room temperature Fe2+:ZnSe laser was 580 μJ for the absorbed energy of 5.3 mJ which corresponds to slope efficiency of 38%. The generated pulse waveform was found to follow that of the pump one.

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