Study on Electrically Modulated Quasi-Continuous Wave Fe: ZnSe Solid-State Laser with Hundred-Hertz.

Area of Science:

• Solid-state laser physics
• Materials science
• Infrared optics

Background:

• Iron-doped binary chalcogenide crystals, particularly Fe: ZnSe, are promising for tunable solid-state lasers in the 3-5 μm range.
• Fe: ZnSe offers advantages in material characteristics and conversion efficiency for laser applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the performance of an electrically modulated quasi-continuous wave (quasi-CW) Fe: ZnSe laser.
• To explore the potential of direct electrical modulation for controlling pulsed laser output.

Main Methods:

• Operation of an Fe: ZnSe laser at liquid nitrogen temperatures in both continuous wave (CW) and pulsed modes.
• Direct electrical modulation applied to the pump source for quasi-CW operation.
• Characterization of output power, optical-to-optical efficiency, central wavelength, and spectral width (FWHM).

Main Results:

• Continuous wave (CW) operation achieved a maximum output power of 2.63 W with 47.05% optical-to-optical efficiency.
• Electrically modulated quasi-CW operation at 4.02 μm yielded 253 mW average power with 42.88% efficiency and 23 nm FWHM at 100 Hz pulse frequency.
• Output waveform directly correlated with the applied electrical modulation waveform.

Conclusions:

• First report of an electrically modulated quasi-CW Fe: ZnSe laser in the pulse regime.
• The developed laser is compact, efficient, convenient to control, and suitable for sustainable operation.
• This technology holds significant interest for various scientific and applied problems requiring tunable mid-infrared lasers.