PRF-controlled near-IR spectral selection in a semiconductor-LTD-driven MnBr₂-Ne-HBr source

This work investigates an MnBr₂-Ne-HBr source driven by a semiconductor linear-transformer-driver (LTD) excitation system as a radiation source for differential-absorption sensing and high-speed optical diagnostics. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first implementation of a manganese-halide laser source of this type using semiconductor pumping. Stable operation was achieved at 75 and 125 kHz, with average total output powers of 250 and 200 mW, respectively. A pronounced pulse repetition frequency (PRF)-dependent spectral transformation was observed: simultaneous visible and near-infrared emission at 75 kHz changed to an IR-dominated regime at 125 kHz, where the spectrum effectively collapsed to two principal lines, 1291.37 and 1333.03 nm, with the 1291.37 nm line remaining dominant. Comparison with tacitron-based excitation shows comparable average output power at 125 kHz despite lower specific input energy and lower maximum electric-field strength, together with improved shot-to-shot energy stability. These results indicate that high-PRF semiconductor pumping can serve not only as a compact excitation architecture for manganese-halide media, but also as an effective means of selecting a dual-line near-IR regime of interest for differential-absorption measurements. The present work therefore establishes a source-level and spectroscopy-level feasibility basis for prospective water-vapor DIAL/IPDA applications, while dedicated wavelength-stability and retrieval-validation measurements remain to be performed.