title: Energy scaling of 4.3 μm room temperature Fe:ZnSe laser.
abstract: We demonstrate a fourfold increase of the output energy of the gain-switched mid-IR Fe:ZnSe laser. Iron doping of the ZnSe polycrystalline samples was realized using a postgrowth thermal-diffusion method from the metal film. Gain-switched Er:Cr:YSGG (2.8 μm) laser pumped Fe:ZnSe lasing was studied in a Fabry-Perot cavity over a 236-300 K temperature range. The maximum output energy reached 4.7 mJ at 4.3 μm and 3.6 mJ at 4.37 μm at 236 K and 300 K and was limited only by available pump energy. The laser threshold was about 8 mJ and was practically unchanged over the studied temperature range. The laser slope efficiencies, measured with respect to the input pump energy, decreased from 19% to 16% with an increase of temperature from 236 to 300 K. The output radiation featured a Gaussian spatial profile with M(2) = 2.6.
authors.affiliation: Center for Optical Sensors and Spectroscopies and Department of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CH310, 1300 University Boulevard, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA.
authors.forename: NoSoung
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Myoung
authors.forename: Dmitri V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Martyshkin
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Fedorov
authors.forename: Sergey B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Mirov
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D007834:Lasers; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D018036:Selenium Compounds; D017967:Zinc Compounds; D007501:Iron; C044696:zinc selenide