DF laser pumped single-crystal Fe:CdTe laser operating at room temperature

Abstract

The operation at room temperature of a single-crystal Fe:CdTe laser excited by a nonchain electric-discharge DF laser was studied. The output energy of 29 mJ was obtained with a slope efficiency in terms of absorbed energy of 30%. The development of transverse parasitic oscillation at large pump spot sizes on the crystal surface limited the laser output energy. The laser with a nonselective cavity operated in the range of 5.3–5.9 μm; the total width of the generation spectrum was about 600 nm. Comparison of the Fe:CdTe generation spectra, obtained by pumping the crystal with DF and Fe:ZnSe lasers, confirmed the shift of the generation spectrum to the long wavelength region with increasing pump wavelengths. The maximum generation wavelength of the Fe:CdTe laser with a nonselective resonator excited by the Fe:ZnSe laser was 6.02 μm with a total width of the generation spectrum of about 370 nm. Ways are discussed for further increasing the room-temperature output energy of a Fe:CdTe laser.

Efficient Fe:CdTe laser with an output energy of 350 mJ at room temperature

“…The Fe:CdTe single crystal was grown from a melt in an Ar atmosphere at a pressure of about 3 MPa using a modified vertical gradient freeze method [18], combined with the process of CdTe synthesis from the initial components (Cd and Te) under a B 2 O 3 flux layer in a pyrolytic boron nitride container. The scheme of the growth chamber and a detailed description of the manufacturing process are presented in [21].…”

“…For this group of lasers, the longest wavelength generation, up to 7 µm [1], can be achieved on a Fe:CdTe crystal. Lasers based on Fe:CdMnTe solid solutions operate in almost the same spectral range as Fe:CdTe lasers (see, for example [7,8]), but at present they are significantly inferior to Fe:CdTe lasers in efficiency and output energy [3][4][5][6]18]. * Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.…”

“…Despite the demonstrated efficiency, the two-stage pumping scheme of the Fe:CdTe laser is quite complex and inconvenient for experiments. In [18], we studied the RT Fe:CdTe laser with direct pumping by radiation from a nonchain electric discharge deuterium fluoride (DF) laser. The DF laser generates simultaneously on many lines in the spectral range of 3.6 µm-4.06 µm [17,18], i.e.…”

“…In [18], we studied the RT Fe:CdTe laser with direct pumping by radiation from a nonchain electric discharge deuterium fluoride (DF) laser. The DF laser generates simultaneously on many lines in the spectral range of 3.6 µm-4.06 µm [17,18], i.e. near the maximum of the absorption band of Fe 2+ ions in Fe:CdTe at RT [2].…”

“…Taking into account the high energy and the short pulse duration, this fact makes the DF laser an ideal pump source for the Fe:CdTe laser at RT. The output energy of the Fe:CdTe laser in [18] was about 29 mJ with the slope efficiency in terms of absorbed energy of 30%. The possibilities of further increase in the generation energy, as in the case of Fe:ZnSe(S) lasers [9], were limited by the development of transverse parasitic oscillations at large pump spot sizes on the crystal surface due to the relatively small transverse dimensions of the AE (15 × 15 mm), used in the experiments.…”