Progress in Cr²⁺and Fe²⁺doped mid‐IR laser materials

Abstract

Recent progress in chromium and iron doped II-VI semiconductor materials makes them the laser sources of choice when one needs a compact system with tunability over 1.9-5.1 μm. Output powers exceeding 10 W and efficiency up to 70% were demonstrated in several Cr doped semiconductors. The unique combination of technological (low-cost ceramic material) and spectroscopic characteristics makes these materials ideal candidates for mid-IR tunable laser systems. This article reviews transition metal doped II-VI materials and recent progress in Cr-and Fe-doped solid-state mid-IR lasers.Critical areas driving future progress in Cr-and Fe-doped chalcogenide middle infrared lasers: fabrication of binary and ternary II-VI ceramic gain media with low phonon cut-off, low optical losses and high design flexibility; high performance laser design with improved characteristics in power (power scaling to dozens of Watts), spectral (spectral coverage over 1.8-6 μm), temporal (frequency comb generation), and pump domains (electrically pumped Cr-and Fe-doped II-VI quantum confined structures).

Investigation of Co, Ni and Fe Doped II-VI Chalcogenides

“…While even parts of the crystal potential for the groups O h and (T d , Т) do not change, the types of irreducible representations do. Non-diagonal elements (absent in crystal fields of O h symmetry) appear as shown in [8]. In addition, odd terms (of the third order) of the crystal potential combine with an odd electro-dipole operator to form an even operator allowing an electro-dipole transition.…”

“…States and the degeneration numbers for the 3d 8 electronic configuration of Ni 2+ are given in Table 5. The diagram of the matrix is shown in Figure 8.…”

Вариативность результирующего поля микродеформаций в кристаллах Zn-=SUB=-1-x-=/SUB=-V-=SUB=-x-=/SUB=-Se (0.01≤ x≤0.10)

“…Материалы указанного элементного состава нашли значимое применение в электронно-оптических устройствах [2]. Участившееся появление в печати данных о высокотемпературном ферромагнетизме РМП II−VI на базе 3d-ионов, что главным образом относится к образцам с пониженной размерностью [3], подкрепляет идеи о перспективности их использования в устройствах спинтроники [4].…”

Crystal growth, spectroscopic characterization, and laser operation of Tm/Mg: LiTaO_3 crystal

“…In particular, solid-state lasers near 1.9 μm using Tm doped crystalline host materials are of considerable interest because they can be used as efficient optical pump sources for optical parametric oscillator (OPO) near degeneracy where the parametric gain is significantly higher. It can also be used to pump active laser materials like Cr 2+ doped ZnSe as already demonstrated [4,5]. Furthermore, compared to long 2-μm (2.0-2.1 μm) wavelength lasers, the lasers around 1.9 μm have a lower absorption of vapor, making it more suitable for laser radar systems [6].…”

“…However, only the Tm: YLF, Tm:YVO 4 , and Tm/Mg: LN crystals [9,11,12] obtained an efficient laser action with a center wavelength below 1.91 μm. As a quasi-three level system, the laser emission near 1.9 μm is difficult to achieve due to the reabsorption effect in the Tm-ion laser.…”